


Chikara

by shadowphantomness



Category: Cardcaptor Sakura, Naruto
Genre: Gen, Insanity, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-30
Updated: 2016-06-11
Packaged: 2018-07-14 12:24:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7170917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowphantomness/pseuds/shadowphantomness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the massacre, Sasuke needed power. He also needed a new family. He just happened to find both in the same place. CCS xover. Eventual Uchihacest *ItaSasu, SasuIta*</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Will you be my family?

**Author's Note:**

> Title: Chikara  
> Author: Shadow/Phantomness  
> Rating: R  
> Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Card Captor Sakura belongs to CLAMP. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfiction belongs to me under international copyright laws and taking it is plagiarism. Don’t steal and don’t sue. Thank you *Phantomness bows*  
> Characters: Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Itachi, Team 7, Cerberus, Clow Cards  
> Pairings: SasuIta, ItaSasu, Naruto/Sakura if you squint  
> Notes: Crossover with Card Captor Sakura. Humanized Clow Cards  
> Warnings: (not all in this chapter) Potentially OOC Sasuke, insanity, shota, incest, cross-dressing, noncon/dubcon

The first thing Sasuke did after being released from the hospital was go home.

            _That man_ had told him to live. And Sasuke did not want to die. But, Sasuke reasoned, there was no way he could rely on the Academy to teach him to teach him what he needed since Itachi had already graduated. So, he would need to learn everything on his own. That was why he was going to go visit the armory first, and then the library, where the Uchiha kept countless scrolls of techniques, amongst other writings.

            Sasuke replenished his supply of shuriken and kunai, idly picked up a thick bundle of neatly wrapped senbon, and although he was not sure why he needed them at the time, a precious stack of the strongest fuuinjutsu seals the Uchiha owned. The armory, at least, had been spared any bloodshed. He next headed to the Uchiha Clan library, which was also in pristine condition. Sasuke was just collecting a few of the scrolls on basic elemental jutsu, because while katon was his primary element as far as he knew, Itachi was way beyond him in terms of mastering katon jutsu. Again, he would only be playing catch-up.

            Sasuke was reaching for another scroll when he realized that there was a book on one of the lower shelves that he hadn’t noticed before. It was definitely glowing. He rubbed his eyes, blinked, and looked again. No, it was not a hallucination. The book was shining with golden light, and it was giving off pulses of chakra strong enough for him to feel. That was not normal. Was it a trap? Sasuke instinctively reached for one of the seals he had taken from the Uchiha armory. Before he could apply it though, the book floated out of the bookshelf, and the clasp holding it closed opened.

            Sasuke peered inside, not sure what he had expected. Inside was a deck of fifty-two cards, with a word written at the bottom in a language he was not familiar with. He could, however, recognize the kanji at the top of the cards, and he could feel the latent power thrumming through them. So, as soon as he took each card out of the book, Sasuke promptly laid it on the ground and then placed a binding seal on top of it, finishing off each seal with his name in his own blood. He knew that much at least. When he was finished, Sasuke took a deep breath. Now, he needed to activate them…

            There was only one card that held Sasuke’s interest at the moment, but being practical, he did not want to risk activating the strongest and losing control of all of them. So he picked the card that seemed the weakest, and read it’s name out loud, hoping that was the key.

            “Bubbles…”

            The card glowed, a strange golden circle formed beneath his feet, and it obeyed his will. Sasuke watched as the library floor in front of him became soaking wet, but no matter. His test had succeeded. The Bubbles card floated free from the seal he had placed upon it. It flew to his hand, his name carefully scripted upon the bottom in his blood.

            Sasuke was about to test a second card, when the book began to glow again. How curious…

 

            The creature that emerged resembled a teddy bear, or a lion club, with a tuft of a tail. It also boosted tiny white wings. Was it a summoned animal of some sort? It introduced itself as Cerberus, the Guardian Beast of the Clow Cards. Cerberus was pleased that Sasuke had not foolishly scattered all the Clow Cards and unleashed a disastrous catastrophe. He was not so pleased that Sasuke had sealed all the Clow Cards in his name and with his blood. And he hadn’t even given the boy the Sealing Wand! This world was completely different from the one he and Clow had resided in…

            “You can’t seriously expect us to stay here with you,” Cerberus said flatly.

            “Why not, Cerberus,” Sasuke asked, once the Guardian Beast had explained what his duty and purpose was.

            “What about your family? Our existence is supposed to be a secret!”

            “They’re all dead.”  
            That shut the winged lion that was in his true form, as the Firey and Earthy Cards were both present, up.

            “…When did they die?” He asked in a softer tone of voice.

            “Three weeks ago,” Sasuke said in a soft voice. “My elder brother killed everyone.”

            Cerberus swallowed uncomfortably. The boy standing before him could not be more than seven or eight years old. “Oh,” He said awkwardly.

            “Cerberus,” Sasuke said softly. “I know I’m your new Master now, at least temporarily.” He saw the lion flinch at his words, “But that’s not what I really want. Will you and the Cards be my new family?”

            It wasn’t as though the boy was ever going to be a substitute for Clow Reed, Cerberus thought, but he didn’t exactly want to be used as nothing but a tool for revenge either. Cerberus sighed, and nuzzled against Sasuke, who was clutching the deck of Clow Cards to his chest, as if they were the most precious things in the world to him now. Maybe they were.

            “Yes.”

 

            “I like pudding,” Cerberus told him the first night.

            Sasuke didn’t know if they had any pudding left in the refrigerator. But he checked anyway. They had not cut off the electricity yet. There was no pudding, but he found senbei and some leftover cookies in the cupboard. He couldn’t cook as well as mother had, but he managed rice and boiled vegetables, and sprinkled fried fish powder over it to make it palatable.

            Cerberus ate the senbei and the cookies. Sasuke ate the rest. He’d buy Cerberus pudding tomorrow.

            Cerberus was in his small form. Sasuke made sure that the Uchiha privacy seals were still up. He didn’t want anyone from Konoha finding out about his new family. Konoha hadn’t done anything to stop Itachi from killing his old family. Konoha didn’t deserve to know about his new family. What if Itachi came back? They couldn’t stop him the first time. They might not even lift a finger to help the second time.

            No, it was safer not to let them know anything.

 

            Bubbles helped him with the dishes. Sasuke thanked her for her help. She helped him with the laundry, too. It was nice to wear something besides hospital pajamas.

            Watery washed his hair for him. Sasuke hadn’t realized how nice it was to have his hair washed. She might not be his mother, but he cried anyway. She held him close and even if she wasn’t human, her webbed fingers were gentle when she wiped his tears away. It’s all right to cry, she told him. Even the greatest sorcerer in the world cried when his beloved died, and even he couldn’t cheat death.

            “Rest well”, Sleep whispered, sprinkling him with pixie dust. “No nightmares tonight,” Dream promised.

 

            “Are you sure you want to live there?” The Hokage questioned him.

            Sasuke nodded.

            The old man sighed and puffed on his pipe, but did not try to sway him further.

            Sasuke withdrew the money he needed to pay for his groceries, and then went grocery shopping. He made sure to buy plenty of sweets for Cerberus. Then, he returned home.

            He had training to do.

 

            “Break me,” Illusion whispered, a kaleidoscope before his eyes, spinning in an ever changing dance, trailing fingertips across his skin, jasmine perfume in his nose and the taste of honey wine on his lips, “And you’ll never fear the Tsukuyomi again.”

            Power sang in his blood as he blocked Fight’s strikes, before she sent him crashing to the ground. “Better,” she crooned, “But I’ve learned every martial art in existence. Relying only on your Uchiha style taijutsu will never be enough. Remember that.”

            “Keep dodging,” Arrow sang, seeing the Sharingan whirl in Sasuke’s eyes. He hissed as two arrows caught him in the shoulders, another arrow in his chest, and four in his abdomen. Arrow sighed, put down his bow. “I missed your vital spots, but you’re still not fast enough.”

            “Don’t let me catch you,” Shadow purred, seeing Sasuke leap from post to post. “Remember, any shadow you cast is fair game.” He reached up, grasped Sasuke’s ankle with a tendril, yanked him to the ground and pinned him down. Sasuke exhaled, felt the fireball tear through the cloaked figure, but his relief was short lived.

“Did you think fire would hurt me, Sasuke? When you moved, you cast another shadow, and fire casts its own shadow as well…”

            Sasuke cursed, and Shadow laughed. “Try again….”

            “I can cut through anything,” Sword reminded him, “So don’t let me get close enough to cut you.”

            “Can you find your way out?” Maze taunted, as Sasuke entered the labyrinth. He wasn’t completely certain what it meant, but the hand gesture Sasuke had made was obviously not a polite one.

 

            “So in this world, earth and water make wood,” Wood mused out loud, watching as Sasuke molded chakra under her watchful eye, seeing the first tender shoots grow underneath his hands. She smiled, leaning over his shoulder. “Better…”

            Freeze watched as the ice crystals formed around the boy. He reared up out of the pond, breathed out the blizzard. Sasuke was unmoved. He held his own, his own control of ice equally matching that of the ice fish. Finally, Freeze sank beneath the water of the lake. He did it, he thought with a smile. He actually did it…

            Thunder roared as the storm ended. Each bolt of lightning had hit precisely the targeted area. No stray sparks or random discharges. He was growing up.

Firey nodded, watching as Sasuke finished the complex dance. Not a single wisp of fire had been out of place. Excellent…

            Metal and crystal were not aspects she usually played with, but she was willing to indulge him. Earthy stroked Sasuke’s hair, watching as he built up his creations.

 

            “Is Yue coming?” He asked Cerberus.

            “Not yet…”

            “It’s been three years…”

            “It is much harder to hide in this world of ninja.”

            Sasuke nodded.

           

            “Your power is very similar to that of our Master’s. That is how you are able to sustain us.” That was what Cerberus had explained to him, a month after he had gotten the Cards. Clow Reed had left his Cards a certain amount of energy, but he had not intended for them to be activated several hours a day, every day, the way Sasuke was using them. Sasuke had bound them with his chakra and his very blood. The power of darkness, Cerberus had called it. Sasuke would have scoffed, as he did not actually believe in magic, but how else was he to explain his new family? In any case, he had his family and all was well. The first few days after Clow’s magic had run out, Sasuke had been nearly comatose, and Cerberus had been forcing crushed soldier pills mixed with water down his throat almost non-stop, but after that, it had simply been a balance of getting plenty of rest and eating nutritious, high-calorie foods. Sasuke had taken to always making certain he had plenty of storage scrolls around with a few month’s worth of food, just in case. Cerberus was an exception, as he absorbed energy from the sun and could also compensate by eating vast amounts of food. That was how he had kept Sasuke – and by extension the rest of the Cards – alive.

           

            “Are you prepared?” Return asked him solemnly.

            Sasuke nodded.

            “Remember, you cannot change the past. You can only observe.” Cerberus reminded him sternly.

            “I know,” Sasuke whispered. His family surrounded him, before they all glowed and returned to card form, slipping into his belt pouch. He wore black, the high-collared shirt and long pants, the bandages wrapped around his calves, gray arm guards and shin guards and breastplate, black sandals. Return activated, and he was in the past.

            He cloaked himself in Shadow, not even a whisper of chakra. Shisui and Itachi stood on the bank of the Naka River.

            His Sharingan spun, the scene burned into his eyes forever. Quietly, he observed what really happened. He followed Itachi when it was over, saw what Danzo had done. Heard his father and mother’s last words…

            _Niisan…_

 

            The return to the present was almost stifling. Cerberus was waiting. “Sasuke, are you all right?”

            “I will be,” The Sharingan in his eyes blazed. Mangekyo, he thought idly. That _bastard_ … Danzo would pay, but not today. He could not truly blame Konoha, or his Clan. The Sandaime would have pushed for a diplomatic solution, he felt. But that man, Danzo…

            His hands clenched into fists. He would be patient. He would bide his time. He had waited three years already. He could keep waiting. It was only time.

           

            He didn’t need the Mangekyo. So, he didn’t bother to use it. Besides, he could break the Tsukuyomi. The Amaterasu was pitiful compared to what Firey had taught him. Shield was the absolute defense unless one had Sword, which Itachi most certainly did not. Also, according to the stone tablet beneath the shrine, one could eventually go blind from overuse. Sasuke might not be a medic-nin but he wasn’t stupid. Perhaps that should be his next area of study?

            He flipped through Create’s pages as he pondered.

            Maybe he might not be able to help himself, but he might be able to help Itachi… Sasuke nodded. Yes, that would work. With that in mind, he headed towards the library.

 

End Chapter

Started 3/25/16

Completed 3/25/16

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> …Having 52 powerful, inhuman entities as Sasuke’s new family might not be the healthiest thing for a traumatized young boy…
> 
> This story has nothing to do with Atonement. No, I haven’t abandoned that fic. That one is actually complete. It just hasn’t all been posted yet.


	2. Team Seven

Hatake Kakashi studied his team.

            Uchiha Sasuke was dressed in a black long-sleeved shirt and black pants with bandages wrapped around his calves. He was wearing gray shin guards and arm guards and a breastplate with a katana strapped to his back. He at least looked serious. Overall, it matched his profile.

            Haruno Sakura was dressed in a red dress and had been fangirling over Uchiha Sasuke. Uzumaki Naruto was in an eyesore of an orange jumpsuit. Both of them were screaming at him for being late. But, at least they weren’t hungry. Interesting… had they disregarded his instructions to not eat breakfast?

            So he explained the instructions for the bell test, and watched as the three of them dashed off into the woods together. Interesting… had they figured out that they should look underneath the underneath? He ambled after them, noticing that even though they were clumsily disguised, they had at least attempted to set up traps. There were quite a few traps. Some traps had been so obvious that he avoided them. They were clearly there to catch the eye in the hopes he wouldn’t miss the other traps underneath. Cute, but still genin-level…

            The three of them attacked together. Sakura’s taijutsu was hopeless. He caught her in a genjutsu easily, but Sasuke broke her out of it seconds later. He sent Naruto flying with a powerful kick. Naruto bounced right back at him, still in a sloppy Academy stance. Sasuke at least attempted ninjutsu on him and he buried him up to his neck in the earth. And still the three of them kept coming at him.

            Kakashi was surprised when Sasuke dug himself out, grabbed his arms from behind, and yelled “Naruto, now!” Instantly, Kakashi was surrounded by Naruto’s shadow clones. He didn’t expect them to do any damage at all, but instead of attacking, Naruto transformed. And suddenly, Kakashi was surrounded by naked, busty, women, all making excessively realistic noises and motions.

            His eyes widened.

            Sakura cut the bells from his belt and giggled. The alarm rang.

 

            “Okay…” Kakashi said slowly. “I guess you pass…”

            Sasuke smirked. Naruto grinned. Sakura cheered.

            “So, are you going to teach us an awesome technique now?” Naruto asked.

            “Maa, maybe tomorrow,” Kakashi said. They pouted.

            “We haven’t even had lunch yet,” Sasuke pointed out. “It’s still early in the day.”

            “So it is,” Kakashi said. “How did you dig yourself out so quickly, Sasuke?”

            There was a strange glitter in his eyes. “Family secret…”

            Kakashi’s gaze sharpened. He didn’t quite like the way the boy said that. “Well then,” He sighed. “I suppose I could train you guys… eat your lunches, I’ll go get the team registered.”

            “But there are only two lunches,” Naruto pointed out, his stomach grumbling.

            “We’ll share,” Sasuke said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Besides, I packed an extra.” He reached into his backpack and pulled out another bento box. “Here you go, Naruto.”

            Naruto was goggling at the fact that Sasuke of all people had made an extra lunch for him but he decided to accept it. “I guess you aren’t so bad, bastard.”

            Sasuke said nothing.

            “Don’t call Sasuke-kun a bastard, Naruto!” Sakura’s hand curled into a fist, ready to punch him into a tree.

            “Don’t hit him, Sakura, he’s our teammate now.” Sasuke cut in. “Even if you don’t like him, you still have to trust him to protect you and be ready to give your life for him on a mission. Otherwise…” His voice trailed off ominously.

            Sakura flushed. “S-sorry, Sasuke-kun…”

            Naruto wasn’t sure his eyes could go any wider. “Okay, who are you and what have you done with the real Sasuke?”

            “Tch,” Sasuke replied. “We’re not in the Academy anymore. We’re Genin now, aren’t we? And we were put on a Team for a reason. So let’s act like it.”

            Not far off, Kakashi observed their interaction with surprise. He had thought Sasuke would be the divisive element on the team, but this… this was a surprise.

           

            “If Kakashi isn’t going to teach us anything, I brought scrolls from home.” Sasuke concluded once lunch had been eaten. “Sakura, I know you have good chakra control, so I brought you an illusion technique. And Naruto, I heard from somewhere that you have wind chakra, so I brought you a wind ninjutsu.”

            “Awesome!” Naruto cheered.

            “Thank you, Sasuke-kun,” Sakura blushed.

            “What about you?” Naruto asked after a moment.

            Sasuke just pulled out a medical textbook.

            “Eh?” Naruto tilted his head to the size. “You’re not going to learn a super-awesome technique yourself?”

            “Weren’t you paying any attention to my introduction yesterday, Naruto?” Sasuke asked. “I told you that I was studying medical ninjutsu. That means I’m not on the front line, remember? My role is to stay alive and heal the rest of you.”

            “Right,” Naruto nodded. “I was just testing you, dattebayo!”

           

            Okay, Kakashi thought. He had observed them long enough. It was touching, how Sasuke was willing to go so far for his teammates, but wholly unnecessary.

            “Put your books away, kids,” He said cheerfully. “It’s training time!”

            Naruto and Sakura jumped. Sasuke did not.

            “All right,” Kakashi clapped his hands. “Let’s start with three laps around the village, chop-chop!” He watched as they stuffed the scrolls in their backpacks. Sasuke calmly put away his medical textbook, as though he dared Kakashi to say something else. Kakashi vaguely felt like punching him, just to see how he’d react. They started running.

            By the end of the day, Sakura was running ragged, Naruto was panting slightly, and Sasuke didn’t even look winded. Kakashi hadn’t exactly pegged the Uchiha for one with stamina, as being previously partnered with Itachi in Anbu, he knew the Uchiha Clan were bred for speed, not endurance, and that medical textbook looked pretty heavy. What kind of individual training had Sasuke been doing?

           

            When Kakashi dropped by the Uchiha compound to check on his student that night, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. That only deepened his suspicions. The place looked far too lived-in for only one person. Sasuke was in his room, reading a medical textbook, but he could hear a muted conversation in the kitchen and smell cooking food. Only, when he went to that window to check, there was no one there.

            It’s haunted, he thought immediately, but quashed that thought immediately. Ridiculous! There were no such things as ghosts!

            But if there weren’t ghosts, who – or what – was in there with Sasuke?

            Slowly, Kakashi lifted his hitai-ite, revealing his Sharingan. If there was an illusion, he would penetrate it. But even with Obito’s eye, he could see nothing, could not hear what those maddening whispers were saying. He did, however, feel a sudden flare of chakra. He turned and saw Sasuke watching him, a fully formed Sharingan in each eye.

 

            “Kakashi,” Sasuke stood at his open window, with a kunai in each hand. “What are you doing here?”

            “I just came to check on my student,” Kakashi replied, feeling the killing intent radiating off the boy. “Is something wrong?”

            “Tch, you could have just knocked on the door. Come in, I’ll make tea.” Sasuke invited. Kakashi shrugged and took the invitation. He slipped in Sasuke’s window, noticing as he did that he could hear the shower running.

            “Do you have guests over?” He asked casually.

            “Of course I don’t have guests over. Don’t be ridiculous,” Sasuke replied as he led Kakashi past the bathroom and into the kitchen. Kakashi noticed with alarm that the pots and pans on the stove were still sizzling and bubbling merrily, and that there was no one tending them. Sasuke lifted the boiling kettle off one of the burners. An unseen force handed him a tin of tea leaves, followed by two cups.

            “Thank you,” Sasuke said politely, putting the tea leaves in a teapot and pouring the boiling water over them. Kakashi sat numbly in a chair and tried to remind himself that ghosts did not exist. He mutely accepted the cup of tea and drank it scalding hot, trying to keep a hold of his composure.

            “So…” He finally said. “When you said your family taught you how to escape from my technique, you were speaking literally…” God, Sasuke was living with the ghosts of the dead Uchiha Clan. That couldn’t be healthy.

            Sasuke knew exactly what erroneous conclusion Kakashi had drawn, and he didn’t particularly care. “Yes.”

            Kakashi finished his tea. He needed to talk to the Hokage, and he needed a drink, perhaps several drinks. “You know I’ll have to report this to the Hokage.”

            Sasuke nodded.

           

            Sarutobi Hiruzen was astonished when he heard the news.

            “Which ones are they,” He asked Sasuke when he met the boy a few days later.

            “Tousan and Kaasan and a few of my aunts and uncles,” Sasuke lied effortlessly. “Not everybody stayed behind. Most of them left…”

            “I see…” Hiruzen spoke. “And… they take care of you?”

            Sasuke nodded.

            “Do they ever… tell you things?” He prodded. “About why they died?”  
            Sasuke shook his head. “ _He_ killed them. That’s all they remember.”

            Perhaps that was for the best.

 

            His team had already mastered the tree-climbing exercise. Now they were picking up trash from the river while they practiced water walking. Sakura had mastered it quickly, Sasuke already knew it, and Naruto was at the shallow end of the river. Kakashi sighed as Naruto spluttered and cursed again.

            Well, he’d get the hang of it soon enough.

            “Sasuke-kun…” Sakura began.

            “Hn,” He turned around to look at her.

            “Kakashi-sensei mentioned something…” She looked a little frightened. “He… he said something about your family… but isn’t your family dead?”

            “Yes,” Sasuke said, grinning a little. “Dead, but not gone.”

            Sakura’s eyes widened. “W-What do you mean?”

            “Tell me, Sakura,” Sasuke leaned in a little closer. “Do you believe in ghosts?”

            Sakura almost lost her balance. “W-what do you mean, ghosts?”

            “Think about it,” Sasuke replied, before scooping up another rusty can.

           

            “So I heard you have ghosts at your house, dattebayo!” Naruto yelled.

            “Hn,” Sasuke continued walking.

            “And I want to see if it’s true!” Naruto continued, oblivious to his teammate’s rising ire.

            “Ghosts are invisible, idiot,” Sasuke continued on his way. “But if you’d like to have dinner, you can certainly join me.”

            Naruto wasn’t about to say no to free food. Sakura watched the two of them, and then plucked up her courage. After all, this was her chance to impress Sasuke’s parents, even if they were dead!

 

            They could smell the food cooking before they even reached the house. They took off their sandals in the entryway, and Sasuke announced that he was home and had brought guests. It was a little creepy, Sakura admitted, how the lights turned on and she couldn’t see anything, and the door opened for them.

            “Tousan and Kaasan aren’t home,” Sasuke said brusquely. “They’re not always here.”

            Sakura was disappointed. Naruto didn’t particularly care.

            Dinner was stir-fried spinach with salted egg yolk, spare ribs in black bean sauce, stir fried carrot and celery slices with cuttlefish, sweet and sour pork and dry cooked chicken, steamed rice and a light soup. It was all very good, and the portions were generous, as though they had known Sasuke would be bringing guests home.

            They ate in the dining room. There were presences all around them, also eating. Seeing the food disappearing into thin air was somewhat unnerving. Naruto talked loudly, Sakura tried to make conversation, but it wasn’t easy. Sasuke barely spoke at all.

            “They think you should cut your hair short, and not wear the dress. It’s not practical for a ninja,” Sasuke told her when dinner was over.

 

            “Dinner was delicious,” Sakura said, feeling awkward.

            Sasuke nodded. “I’ll lend you another scroll on genjutsu.”

            Her eyes lit up. She followed him into the library. He handed her a scroll of D-rank techniques. Their fingers touched. She blushed, but he looked away.

            Another hand brushed hers. She shivered. It was freezing! She thought she heard a dark chuckle, and trembled.

            “Naruto, would you like to stay the night? It’s getting late. You can use the shower, and I’ve got some spare clothes.”

            “Thanks,” Naruto yawned.

            Sakura walked home alone. The next morning, she showed up with her hair cut short and in a dark blue shirt and shorts. Naruto was wearing a jumpsuit in forest green this time. Kakashi heartily approved.

 

End Chapter

Completed 3/25/16

Started 3/25/16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Clow Cards are invisible to others, hence the 'ghosts'.


	3. Secrets

The moon was full again.

            “Couldn’t sleep,” Kakashi asked.

            Sasuke glanced over at his teacher. “Why are you here again?” He asked.

            “I’ve noticed,” Kakashi told him. “Every month, when the moon is full, you’re up here on the roof, watching it. It’s as though you’re waiting for something to happen.” He eyed his student, taking in the pale, white yukata he was wearing. “You’ll freeze out here if you’re only wearing that.”

            “Its summer, Kakashi,” Sasuke glared. “It just reminds me of _that night._ It was a full moon then, too.”

            “But you still have your family,” Kakashi reminded him. “I can’t talk to ghosts like you can, but I bet they’re worried about you. You should go inside.”

            “Hn,” Sasuke sighed. He knew they were. It wasn’t actually what Kakashi thought. He was worried about the full moon, but not for the reason Kakashi thought he was. During the full moon, Yue’s powers were the strongest. If Yue did ever choose to attack, it would be during the full moon…

            Still, it didn’t seem as though it would happen tonight, so he slid off the roof and went inside.

 

            Cerberus, in his false form, cuddled into his arms after he had changed into his silk pajamas and climbed into bed.

            “No sign of Yue?”

            “Not even a whisper,” Sasuke replied.

            “We’ll have to wait until the next full moon,” He sighed.

            Sasuke nodded.

           

            “For your first C-rank mission, you will be jointly guarding this merchant caravan as it travels to Kusagakure,” Hiruzen instructed them. Team Seven saluted, along with Team Eight and Team Ten. It was nice to see their former classmates again, Sasuke thought. Team Eight was mostly a tracking team, and Team Ten were perhaps interrogation and information gathering? In any case, between the three of them they could cover a wide range of specialties and of course they could all fight. He watched as Kakashi, Kurenai and Asuma together laid out what they would be doing, covering guard shifts and inter and intra-team activities and paid attention.

            He found himself paired with Kiba and Akamaru in the lead. Kiba seemed intent on proving his dominance. Sasuke told him point-blank that there was nothing to prove, and that he would defer to Kiba’s lead unless the boy had a really stupid idea as he was going to play the support role. Kiba looked taken aback and Sasuke sighed inwardly and repeated what he had told to Naruto, that he was training to become a medic-nin. Akamaru licked his hand and wagged his tail, and that seemed to be good enough for Kiba.  

            Kiba wasn’t dumb, though. He knew Akamaru could sense chakra levels, and Sasuke might be a healer, but Sasuke was way above Genin level, even Chuunin level. Jounin level, perhaps… Akamaru wasn’t sure. But Sasuke wasn’t dangerous to him, or anyone else, so Kiba kept quiet about that.

 

            The first week of travel was boringly peaceful. They were still close to Konoha, after all, and any bandits or thieves in this area would have to be suicidal or very desperate, to try attacking so close to a hidden village. They traveled during the day and camped at night, and on two occasions the merchants even left the ninja to guard their wares as they made merry in a nearby town. Sasuke tried his best to make conversation with his former classmates during the day when they rotated shifts, but it was not his strong suit, and he had to spend quite some time avoiding Ino and some of the merchants’ daughters and nieces. Why were there so many clingy females? At least Sakura seemed to have gotten over her crush on him…

            The bandits attacked on the ninth day, in the early morning, before the mist had cleared. One moment, there was nothing, the next there were screams and flaming arrows hissing overhead. It was impossible that their Jounin-sensei had noticed nothing, Sasuke thought, so was this a test?

            Protect the clients, he thought. Kiba was already dashing towards the merchants, heading for the screams. Sasuke gazed at the mist, thought, it could be a trap. He inhaled, felt the wind flow through him, exhaled… the fog parted, and he saw Kiba hurtling towards the caravan leader, Youji. Not a trap, yet… then he saw the man with the bow, up in the trees, taking aim at Kiba. Chakra filled his legs, and he sprang, metal covering his body as he shielded them both. The two arrowheads broke against his armor, and he heard Kiba’s exclamation of surprise.

            “Get him to safety,” Sasuke hissed, Sharingan eyes meeting Kiba’s startled ones. Kiba grabbed Youji and fled.

            Metal on his fingertips, senbon formed, straight to the man’s throat. No time to think, how many left?

            There were a dozen there, by the trees… Sasuke flickered, shuriken in hand. Two down, three shuriken in each torso, just like Itachi would have taken them down, Kakashi thought, observing. Not dead yet, but good enough for now. He turned his attention to the other students, saw a man being eaten alive by Shino’s kikaichu, Hinata striking with the jyuuken right and left. Naruto burying two bandits alive underneath a clone avalanche, Sakura delivering a truly agonizing groin kick. Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji were evacuating several other merchants; very good.

            Sasuke wrapped himself in fire and lightning. Kakashi’s eyes sharpened, his Sharingan was on, and he could see the precise chakra flowing around the boy. Fire and lightning weren’t the only two elements present. Those were only the two most obvious ones.

            Son of a bitch…

            Sasuke wove between the bandits gracefully, like a dancer. Those that weren’t immediately incinerated or electrocuted died very quickly with a single touch. When it was over, Sasuke wove his chakra back into himself, gathered up every flicker of flame, every spark of lightning, every drop of water and speck of earth, every gust of wind and blended them all together until it looked normal, until there was no ice or wood or metal or crystal or anything else that shouldn’t belong in a slightly-above average genin, no yin or yang or anything in between. Then, he stepped back into Kakashi’s line of sight.

 

            “Damn,” Asuma looked at Kakashi. “What have you been teaching your students?”

            “Asuma,” Kakashi said shakily. “I can assure you, I didn’t teach Sasuke _any_ of that.” He focused on Sasuke again, rubbing his eyes. What the hell? Now he couldn’t see any elemental chakra at all within the boy. “I _know_ I saw all five chakra natures inside of him earlier… but now… what is he playing at?”

            Kurenai turned to look at him. “Maybe we should go help now?”

            Kakashi nodded dumbly. Yes, some of the wagons were still on fire, weren’t they? Yes; and the bandits were mostly out of commission. Helping sounded good. He could interrogate the boy later.

           

            Fortunately, no one had died, and the goods were largely intact. The wagons could be repaired, and Youji was very glad indeed he had hired a ninja escort.

            Kakashi caught Sasuke by the stream that evening.

            “Sasuke,” He said.

            “Kakashi,” Sasuke met his gaze unflinchingly.

            “Who trained you,” He demanded.

            “I already told you,” Sasuke wasn’t lying, and he knew it in the marrow of his bones. “My family did.”

            “When did you know you had all five elemental natures,” He asked his next question.

            Sasuke looked thoughtful. “I believe I was nine.”

            “And you didn’t think to tell me?” That came out sharper than he would have liked.

            “You didn’t ask Naruto or Sakura their elemental natures,” Sasuke pointed out very reasonably. “It would have been showing favoritism…”

            “Sasuke,” Kakashi sighed. “How strong are you?”

            “I don’t know,” Sasuke replied honestly.

            “Take a guess,” Kakashi told him harshly. “You’re definitely above Chuunin level.”

            “Anbu,” Sasuke suggested. “Niisan was, at eleven. Why wouldn’t I be, at twelve?”

            “Right,” Kakashi gazed into his eyes. “We are going to spar for real as soon as we get back to Konoha. And if I catch you holding back, I’ll kill you.”

            Sasuke just smiled.

 

            “Do you need our help?” Cerberus asked.

            “That would be a little unfair to Kakashi, don’t you think?” Sasuke asked.

            “You _are_ our Master…” Light reminded, embracing him from one side.

            “And we are here to serve you,” Dark purred from his other side.

            Sasuke chuckled as they each kissed him on a cheek. “I may need Mirror soon, but we shall see…”

           

            Kakashi was in over his head.

            They had started off with taijutsu. Sasuke was skilled, he was willing to admit, but Kakashi had the advantage of a lot more experience and a stronger adult body. Then the kid had trapped him in some kind of all-senses illusion that he just couldn’t figure out how to break. He had attempted kai. He had activated his Sharingan. He had stabbed himself with a kunai. He knew it was an illusion. But why couldn’t he get out of it?

            Sasuke hummed as he wondered if Kakashi would realize that he had not actually inflicted bodily harm upon himself as that pain was also an illusion. Yes, the Sharingan was supposed to break through illusions, but as Illusion was the source of all illusions known to man and Sasuke had trained under him, there was no way Kakashi was going to break out anytime soon. He made some more naked Icha Icha heroines from Kakashi’s subconscious mind wander past and was rewarded with some heavy breathing from his sensei. As entertaining as this was, he really wanted to pick up some new techniques so he decided to give Kakashi another half hour before he broke the illusion himself and got to the fun stuff.

            So, Kakashi finally broke the illusion, or so he thought, and got serious. But for some reason, Sasuke was just too damn fast for him to hit with any of the techniques he was throwing at him. And Kakashi was throwing a lot of techniques at him, and Sasuke was drinking them in greedily, Sharingan copying every jutsu in sight. Granted, the training field was getting horribly destroyed, and so was the forest and the river around them, but that was what it was for. Sasuke threw a few katon and raiton techniques Kakashi’s way, ones the man could dodge easily, added a few suiton and doton for variety and to shield himself, and finally a nice fuuton to show off a little. Then he slipped inside Kakashi’s guard and nicked him with a kunai. The paralytic had his sensei on the ground in three seconds flat.

            Kakashi glared at him balefully. Sasuke helpfully injected him with the antidote.

            “You’ve made your point, you cocky brat.”

            “So, can I take the Chuunin Exams with Naruto and Sakura?”

            “Actually,” Kakashi said, with an eye-smile. “You’ve just been promoted to Anbu. Congratulations.”

            Sasuke blinked. Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped out from behind a tree.

            “Very well done, Sasuke,” He said. “I was going to have you pass the Chuunin Exams at Akagahara but I see no point in doing so. And I know you broke the illusion on Kakashi. That level of genjutsu alone is beyond anything even Yuuhi Kurenai could manage. Combined with your level of ninjutsu… you were still holding back, weren’t you?” The god of shinobi chuckled. “I trained under the Nidaime Hokage, Sasuke. I sense something of his spirit inside of you. I think you’ll make a fine Anbu. But don’t worry – you won’t be leaving Team Seven just yet. There are still a few missions I’ve got my eye on for you to take…”

            “Hokage-sama,” Sasuke sank to his knees.

            Hiruzen smiled. “You’ll get your mask and tattoo later. For now, you report only to me, Hawk.”

            Hawk, Sasuke thought. He liked it.

            “Your first mission,” The Hokage said softly. “Is…”

 

            “So, how’d it go?” Cerberus asked.

            “I got promoted,” Sasuke replied.

            The Guardian Beast looked at him. “You’re going on a long trip tomorrow, aren’t you?” He asked. “Want me to come along?”

            Sasuke nodded. Cerberus sighed. “You feel it too?”

            “Yue is coming,” Sasuke said softly.

            “Finally…” Cerberus growled. “After all these years…”

            “It’s time for the Final Judgment.”

 

End Chapter

Started 3/25/16

Completed 3/25/16

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke spent over four years training with the Clow Cards. More will be explained later.


	4. Revelations

“Another C-rank protection mission,” Naruto asked. “I guess it’s not a daimyo or a princess, is it?”  
            Hiruzen shook his head. Naruto sighed.

            Sakura and Sasuke waited as their client walked in. Tazuna was not very appealing, and slightly hung over. But, a mission was a mission, and they already knew they could take care of any bandits that showed up. So, they went home to pack up the supplies they would need and met up at the front gates, ready to go.

           

            The sight of the Demon Brothers only fazed Sakura and Naruto a little, and only because they weren’t bandits. Naruto went high, Sakura went low, and they knocked them both out. Kakashi did the interrogation, and Sasuke guarded Tazuna, as was his role on the team. The Hokage’s instinct had been right. This was no simple C-rank mission. With Chuunin-rank ninja after him, this mission was at least an A-rank, maybe more, especially after the brothers confirmed they were working for Momochi Zabuza. Sasuke watched as Kakashi secured the prisoners and summoned a dog to send a mission update back to Konohagakure. As expected, Naruto and Sakura wished to continue the mission. He himself voiced no opinion, gazing up at his squad leader for confirmation. Kakashi nodded, so Sasuke obeyed.

            Tazuna was surprised that the black-haired kid in the body armor with the sword was the one who had stayed back to protect him. When he asked why, the others had given him incredulous looks.

            “Sasuke’s the medic,” Sakura said, as if it were obvious. “He’s our last line of defense. Of course he’d be the one protecting you.”

            “But he’s the one wearing the armor!”

            “He has to stay alive, doesn’t he?” Naruto cracked his knuckles. “He can’t heal like I can, but he can dodge damn well everything.”

            Kakashi gave him an eye-smile. “Don’t worry too much about it, Tazuna-san.”

 

            When they actually reached Wave proper, there was already a thick mist on the ground. Sasuke exchanged a glance with Kakashi. Kakashi gave him a nod. Sasuke calmly reversed the signs for the jutsu, and the mist cleared. Then, he pushed Tazuna to the ground as the Executioner’s Blade whizzed overhead. As expected, Momochi Zabuza was standing atop of it.

            “Sharingan Kakashi,” Momochi Zabuza began. Immediately, Sakura and Naruto took guard positions on either side of him, moving to protect the downed Tazuna. Kakashi wasted no time engaging the Mist nukenin, cutting off whatever dramatic monologue he had been about to spew. Sasuke watched the fight idly with his Sharingan, wondering when that other presence hiding in the trees would make itself known. Yue _,_ he thought, flaring his chakra. The moon guardian might be in his false form, but he was definitely close enough to sense. I’m waiting for you…

            Haku knew that he was supposed to wait for his master to finish his fight, but he was finding it hard to concentrate. It was almost as though there were something inside of his mind trying to take over. He didn’t understand what was going on! As he noticed Kakashi about to give Zabuza the final blow, he sent two senbon straight through Zabuza’s neck. He showed himself, about to give his prepared speech, when suddenly; he lost all control of his body, and his consciousness for that matter.

            Kakashi looked up, just in time to see a Mist hunter-nin incapacitate Zabuza before falling head-first out of the nearby tree, unconscious. What is going on here? He thought. He watched, dumbfounded, as a pair of enormous white wings sprouted from the hunter-nin’s back, surrounded him, and when they opened, a different man was floating there, long, white hair, silvery-white robes, cold, ice-blue eyes.

            “Uchiha Sasuke,” He spoke.

            “Yue…” Sasuke replied. Kakashi jerked his head back. Sakura and Naruto had fallen unconscious, and Sasuke was not alone. By his side was another strange beast, a winged male lion, without a mane.

            “Cerberus,” The one Sasuke had called Yue intoned. “So this is the one you have chosen as the candidate for our new Master? Yet he does not bear the Sealing Wand.”

            “He never needed it,” The lion replied. “He did not bind us with magic. He bound us with love, and his very blood.”

            “And what would you know of love,” Yue scoffed. “No matter, he will fail, like the others before him.”

            “No,” Cerberus replied. “If it is Sasuke, he will pass any test you set before him.”

            What was going on? Kakashi wanted to ask Sasuke, but he found himself frozen in place, unable to interfere, unable to move a muscle. He could only watch in stunned horror as the one called Yue rose into the air, and attacked his student. A single crystal shard formed in his hands, multiplied, became hundreds and thousands of them.

            “Shield,” Sasuke spoke a single word. A barrier formed around him. Not a single crystal was able to pierce his defense.

            Yue seemed to frown at that. Wind surged around him, tearing at Sasuke’s hair and clothing. Sasuke sighed quietly. “Firey,” He whispered. Flames wrapped him in their embrace, consumed the wind hungrily. Water doused the flames, but the waves were shot through with lightning. Ice shattered the lightning into frozen shards and then a sandstorm scoured the ice to nothing. Vines sprouted from the earth and broke the storm, a maze twisted around them. Yue scoffed and erased the maze before Kakashi’s very eyes, his own shadow entangled him. Sasuke riddled him with arrows, pressed a sword to his throat.

            Yue stabbed his hand, crackling with energy, through the boy’s chest, Kakashi gasped in horror. Sasuke only smirked, before Yue felt himself impaled from behind through more than one vital point, blood dripping down his robes, watching the Sasuke in front of him fade, gazing in shock at the three of them behind him. “Mirror… Twin…” He gurgled.

            “You guessed correctly,” Sasuke withdrew his katana, flicked the blood off of it with a practiced motion as Twin did the same.

           

            “I…Final Judgment Maker, Yue, accept you as the new master of the Clow Cards,” Yue gasped. Sasuke nodded, feeling the magic bind him. As soon as Yue finished speaking, Sasuke immediately bent over him, hands glowing green. Yue watched in astonishment as his new Master set to work healing him.

            “I’m sorry I had to hurt you like that, Yue,” Sasuke apologized. “But you gave me no choice. I would much rather be your friend and family than your Master. Mirror, as soon as I’m done with Yue I’ll tend to you.” Yue saw Mirror nod. It was astonishing. He could literally see his torn flesh and blood vessels being stitched together underneath Sasuke’s hands as he concentrated. What manner of magic was this?

            “Erase,” Sasuke spoke. “Could you please take care of the witness?”

            Yue saw a flicker of movement as Erase moved to the silver-haired man. A moment later, he was out like a light.

            Sasuke finished in a surprisingly short amount of time. “Are you in any more pain, Yue?”

            Yue shook his head.

            “Do you still require to be bound to this young man as your false form?”

            He thought for a moment, and shook his head again. He could sense that his Master was strong enough to support him, to support the Cards as well. He could feel the darkness in him, so familiar to Clow’s magic. Sasuke smiled, and Yue returned to the book to rest. Sasuke got to work on Mirror, who needed far less healing. Then he cut Zabuza and Haku’s throats, modified Haku’s body and Kakashi’s memories some, and sealed their bodies and equipment in a storage scroll, before he woke Kakashi and the rest of his team and Tazuna up. After all, considering the damage he and Yue had done to the area, there needed to be some explanation.

 

            Kakashi groaned when he woke, feeling chakra – recognizable as Sasuke’s – inside of him. His head was pounding and it felt like he had overused the Sharingan. “Sasuke, report,” He ordered as they began to walk down the road towards Tazuna’s house.

            “The hunter-nin was a fake and Zabuza’s ally with mastery over multiple elements as well as several potential kekkei genkai.” Sasuke explained. “He incapacitated Naruto and Sakura at the get-go. We were forced to engage him until you passed out from overuse of Sharingan. I eventually managed to defeat and kill him and stabilized you.”

            Kakashi nodded. He had figured out that much. Sasuke handed him two storage scrolls. The rest of the report could wait until they were in a more secure location. He wanted details!

 

            After arriving at Tazuna’s house, Kakashi had Naruto and Sakura secure the perimeter. Sasuke gave Kakashi his Sharingan-encoded memories of the false encounter with Haku. Kakashi watched it all, whistling a little. No wonder he was exhausted… that fake hunter-nin had really pulled out all the stops! It was a very good thing Sandaime-sama had promoted Sasuke to Anbu and made them take this mission. He shuddered a little at the thought of a regular team of Genin, or even Chuunin, dealing with this mess.

            “Well done,” He finally said.

            Sasuke just nodded.

            The boy was starting to remind him of Itachi. But, Kakashi reminded, at least Sasuke had his family back in Konoha waiting for him, albeit his very much _dead_ family.

 

            “You’re all going to die,” Inari told them.

            “What did you say?” Naruto demanded.

            “No one can defeat Gatou! He’s too powerful!”

            Sakura sighed.

            Sasuke ignored the boy, helping himself to another serving of food. Now that he had to support Yue as well, he needed to make certain he consumed enough calories. Although Wave was supposed to be very poor, so after dinner, he pulled out one of his month-long supply food storage scrolls and offered the contents to a grateful Tsunami, explaining that he didn’t want to impose on her family too badly.

            “Assassination,” Sasuke asked Kakashi that night.

            “Information gathering first,” Kakashi reminded him. “And we still have to guard Tazuna. Even if Zabuza is dead, Gatou may hire others.”

            Sasuke nodded.

            “It’s a full moon tonight,” Kakashi remarked, a little too casually.

            “I know,” Sasuke replied.

            “You can take whichever watch you want.”

            “Thank you.”

 

            “Yue loved Clow, didn’t he?” Sasuke asked that night as he stroked Cerberus’ fur.

            “Yes,” Cerberus sounded slightly shaken. “He has never fought a Candidate as violently as the way he fought you, though. I never thought…”

            “It’s all right,” Sasuke replied. “I forgive him. And you can’t say I didn’t give as good as I got.” Cerberus nodded, his tiny wings fluttering for a moment.

            “You know we love you, right?”

            “I know,” Sasuke smiled. “I love you too, my family.”

            “But you miss your brother…”

            “I’ll see him soon enough,” Sasuke closed his eyes. “Even if it takes years, I will get him back… and I will finally be able to tell him how I truly feel.”

 

            Gatou was not a happy man when he discovered that there was no news of Zabuza and Tazuna had resumed work on the bridge. He really should not have paid that man a single ryo in advance! Well, he thought grimly, maybe he would hire that other mercenary group, the dawn or whatever they were called. Sure, they were more expensive, but it would be worth it. Besides, the blue shark-man looked a lot tougher than Zabuza did and the other one with the demonic red eyes would definitely be able to take down the team from Konoha, right?

 

End Chapter

Started 3/25/16

Completed 3/25/16    

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used the Card Captor Sakura wiki to find out which cards fell under the moon/sun for the Final Judgment fight.


	5. Meetings

Well, Sasuke thought. This week was just getting worse and worse, wasn’t it? At least they’d gotten four days of rest and recuperation and mainly just guarding Tazuna and his workers while they worked on the bridge but now Gatou had called in the big guns, which just so happened to consist of his brother and this human shark and then the shark had mentioned something about capturing Naruto which had caused him to lose his temper and charge at them leaving Sakura and himself to guard Tazuna and Sakura was completely paralyzed by the sheer force of killing intent and Naruto had been knocked out and Kakashi was dealing with Kisame, was it, and his sword could absorb chakra, and now Itachi was walking towards him and the terrified Tazuna and Sasuke really couldn’t be in two places at once. He sighed.

            He bit his thumb, slammed his hand into the ground. There was an obligatory puff of smoke. Cerberus appeared in all his glory. “Please guard Tazuna, Cerberus,” Sasuke requested. Cerberus nodded, motioned for the bridge builder to get on his back. Tazuna gulped, before mounting the winged lion, who took to the skies. Itachi looked faintly puzzled, and vaguely amused.

            “You have a summoning contract already, little brother?” He asked.

            Sasuke’s response was to reach into his weapons pouch and hurl down what was some sort of a flash-bang. Itachi instinctively closed his eyes and leapt back. Years of experience warned him not to land just yet, he opened his eyes in surprise to see what were unmistakably tendrils of his own shadow trying to grab him – how had Sasuke managed to copy what was obviously a Nara Clan specialty – and skidded to a halt yards away. He saw Sasuke helping his pink-haired teammate up, and frowned. Perhaps killing her in front of his little brother would give him the proper incentive to become stronger…

            As though Sasuke had sensed his thoughts, a circular barrier sprung up around the pink-haired girl, who had passed out. Itachi frowned. He hadn’t seen Sasuke weave any seals, so how… Or had he prepared that technique in advance and only just activated it now? He met Sasuke’s Sharingan with his Mangekyo, seeing three tomoe in each eye, and for a brief second, saw Sasuke’s eyes morph into the Mangekyo as well, before it faded. Interesting, he thought.

            “Niisan,” Sasuke said, very calmly. “I don’t want to hurt you. Please surrender.”

            Itachi almost choked. “Sasuke,” He said calmly. “You couldn’t hurt me if you tried. You lack hatred.”

            Sasuke paused. “That’s true,” He admitted. “I do lack hatred. I love you, niisan. I want you to come home.”

            “Foolish little brother,” Itachi clung to his composure. What had happened to Sasuke? “Have you forgotten what I did?” His Mangekyo spun. “Perhaps you need a reminder.” He activated the Tsukuyomi. To his complete and utter shock, nothing happened, except for the extreme pain splitting his skull apart as he suddenly experienced the mother of all headaches.

            “Niisan,” Sasuke said, kneeling down next to him and cradling him in his arms, “I told you that I didn’t want to hurt you. Would you like a glass of water and some painkillers? You really shouldn’t abuse your Mangekyo like that, you know. It’ll make you go blind so much sooner.”

            This was ridiculous! Itachi shoved Sasuke away, opened his right eye. He heard Sasuke scream as the black flames of Amaterasu blazed forth at his command, greedily licking at his little brother’s flesh. It hurt to make Sasuke suffer like this, but he had to learn his lesson, and he had to hate, or else all his plans would fall apart…Itachi’s eyes widened in shock when he saw the burnt corpse of his partner a few seconds later, next to a panting Kakashi and an unharmed Sasuke.

            “Maybe you could consider surrendering now?” Sasuke asked kindly.

            Itachi gave Kakashi a Tsukuyomi-filled glare. At least it worked this time, he thought savagely, incapacitating the copy ninja and rendering him comatose. Then, he turned to Sasuke, and summoned Susanoo. Sasuke attempted a good two dozen A and B-rank ninjutsu of all five elements. Itachi was pleased, but none of them made it past Susanoo’s Yata Mirror and he cut a few of the other attacks apart with the Blade of Totsuka. He saw Sasuke frown, and then summon a sword he didn’t recognize, a thin, straight blade. Itachi felt somewhat alarmed when Sasuke charged his Susanoo head on.

            That shield is like Mirror, Sasuke thought. But Sword is supposed to cut through anything, so, let’s test it. Then, he paused. Wait, if it’s like Mirror, it could conceivably reflect Sword’s powers perfectly. That would get us nowhere. So I’ll just have to cut somewhere that isn’t covered by that shield. That sword it’s waving around doesn’t look too safe either as it seems like some sort of sealing item. Sasuke body flickered himself behind Itachi’s Susanoo, and then slashed apart its spine. Success!

            He saw Itachi’s eyes widen, and his eyes flashed. Not this time, he thought viciously. If Itachi wasn’t going to surrender peacefully, he would have to force him. There were no other witnesses. In an instant, time stopped.

            “Yue,” Sasuke gently woke his moon guardian. “He’s the one.”

            Yue studied Itachi, gently feeling his latent magic. “Wind and Water,” He confirmed. “And so much darkness, even deeper than yours… I accept.” Sasuke watched as Yue embraced his brother, before merging with him, fading into the back of his mind. Itachi would not even realize what had happened. Now what to do? Utilizing Time was a huge drain on his energy. He swallowed two handfuls of soldier pills and reached for Mist next. Corrosive mist spewed forth, dissolving the armored warrior. Sasuke was no sealing expert, but he did have Lock, so between the two of them they worked up a nifty seal to suppress Itachi’s chakra and secure him before Time ran out.

            Fortunately, Sakura and Naruto were awake and in condition to fight by the time Gatou’s mob of mercenaries showed up, because Sasuke was certainly not in the mood. And Tazuna and Inari, still guarded by Cerberus, had managed to round up the villagers to help. Perhaps having Thunder tear Gatou limb to limb had been unnecessary, but Windy, Watery, Firey and Earthy had already emptied out the contents of his vault that morning and slaughtered any mercenaries that got in their way at his base of operations so his manpower had been cut in half without his knowledge. Certainly, having half of his army disappear in midair when Illusion flickered out of existence was sobering.

            “Y-you brought your family with you?” Sakura almost whimpered.

            “They like to keep an eye on me,” Sasuke replied.

            A confused Itachi turned to Naruto. “Naruto-kun, what are they talking about?”

            “You can’t see them?” Naruto asked Itachi. “I would have thought you’d be able to, since they’re your family too…”

            Itachi looked even more perplexed.

            “Sasuke lives with your family’s ghosts, dattebayo!”

            _What,_ Itachi thought in disbelief.

           

            When the mercenaries finally surrendered, Itachi watched as Sasuke took command and directed the citizens of Wave to deal with them. He sealed away Kisame’s body, took care of the comatose Kakashi, collected the new contract from Tazuna, and of course, took Itachi and the other two Genin back to Tazuna’s house. He looked at the other two genin. They were wholly clueless. Sasuke then deferred to Naruto, who decided that they should all have ramen and didn’t need any more patrols. Itachi was certain he was the only one who noticed Sasuke had made shadow clones and sent them out earlier. Once the two of them were alone in a room upstairs, he summoned a hawk and sent it back to Konoha with a mission update. Itachi’s eyes narrowed. He recognized that type of hawk. It was not something a genin or even a chuunin should have access to. “Sasuke…”

            “Yes, niisan,” Sasuke asked.

            Cerberus was perched on the desk next to Sasuke, in his reduced form, that of a winged lion cub. Itachi wondered what type of summon he was.

            “We need to talk.”

           

            Sasuke stroked Cerberus’ head. “I’m listening, niisan.”

            “How long,” Itachi gazed at him. “Has our family been with you?”

            Sasuke smiled. “They’ve been with me since the day I returned from the hospital.” He paused. “And they’re not _our_ family anymore, niisan. Technically, they’re _my_ family, although… that’s not a hundred percent correct either.” Cerberus seemed to be laughing, as though he was privy to some inside joke.

            “And Cerberus,” Itachi asked.

            “He’s a part of our family too, of course,” Sasuke kept stroking his fur.

            Itachi frowned. The lion cub blew a puff of flame towards him. Fire, Itachi thought. Fine, he could accept that. The Uchiha did contract with cats… perhaps he was an experiment of some sort.

 

            “What about…”

            “This is my first mission,” Sasuke answered the second question before Itachi finished asking. He took off his breastplate and shirt, letting Itachi see his bare chest and shoulders, no tattoo yet. Itachi couldn’t help studying Sasuke for perhaps a few seconds longer than he should have. Sasuke simply smiled inwardly, before putting his shirt back on. He took off his armor and sandals, and got ready for bed.

            “Aren’t you afraid of me?” Itachi asked.

            “No,” Sasuke replied simply.

            “I could kill you in your sleep.”

            “If you had wanted to kill me, you would have done it four years ago.”

            “I could pluck out your eyes.”

            “You could try,” Sasuke stated bluntly. “Niisan, the bed’s large enough for two.”

            Itachi stared at him.

           

            “I’ll sleep on the floor.”

            “Your loss,” Sasuke told him. He handed him a pillow and one of the blankets. “Sleep well, niisan.”

            And without even bothering to tie him up, Sasuke was fast asleep in minutes.

            Itachi could not believe the foolishness of his little brother. True, Sasuke had sealed his chakra, and taken his weapons, but did he truly believe he was helpless? He looked at Cerberus.

            Cerberus was smiling at him as he watched Itachi leave through the window.

            Six hours later, Itachi finally admitted to himself that whatever hellish illusory maze Sasuke had put up outside was beyond his capabilities to break at the moment and he had underestimated his little brother again.

           

            He was frowning, though, because no matter how much training Sasuke had been doing, this level of genjutsu mastery should not have been possible. Itachi knew he had been hailed as a genius, but this was beyond Tsukuyomi. This was not Uchiha-style Sharingan-based genjutsu. This was something else altogether… this was almost at the level of Izanagi, but Sasuke clearly still had both eyes, and he would have noticed if Sasuke had Sharingan implanted in other parts of his body. And the way Sasuke had said _my_ family…

            What secrets was his little brother hiding?

 

            Naruto and Sakura were somewhat shocked when the four-man Anbu squad arrived three days later to escort them home. They took Itachi into custody, collected the contract from a terrified Tazuna, picked up Kakashi, and got them back to Konoha at record speeds. Sasuke delivered his report to the Hokage, and was informed that once Itachi was released from Torture and Interrogation, he would be in charge of him. He had expected it, and thanked the Sandaime Hokage. Hiruzen watched Sasuke leave, thoughtfully puffing on his pipe. It was as though Sasuke already knew… Well, at least the boy didn’t seem terribly unstable or about to revolt. Now, what to do about Danzo…

           

            Sasuke had finished cleaning Itachi’s room and completely furnishing his new wardrobe with plenty of help from Create. He smiled and hugged the card spirit. “Thank you.”

            Create hugged him back. “You’re welcome.”

            He glanced around the room again. The bed had clean sheets, the floor had been swept and mopped, the windows had been washed, and the room had been aired out… that should be everything…

            “Lunch is ready,” Flower said kindly.

            “Thank you,” Sasuke and Create headed for the kitchen.

 

End Chapter

Started 3/25/16

Completed 3/26/16    

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sword from CCS can cut through anything, even Shield. That being said, the Yata Mirror is supposed to be able to reflect any attack, so I had Sasuke attack from the back.


	6. Preparations

          With Kakashi in a Tsukuyomi-induced coma, Sakura and Naruto were without a Jounin-sensei, and while Sasuke was more than capable of training his teammates, Hiruzen was not certain it would be terribly wise to let him do so. Perhaps he could assign a temporary Jounin-sensei. On the other hand, his options were somewhat limited, so it would have to do for now. In the meantime, he would have to recall Jiraiya and send him to search for Tsunade, because no one else was available to cure Kakashi. And then he realized that Sasuke would also have to keep an eye on Itachi, who was due to be released from T&I – well, hopefully Sasuke was able to multitask. He had already learned the shadow clone technique, hadn’t he? If not, he could copy it from Naruto.

            Sasuke had Sakura working on taijutsu with Mirror in the form of his mother, who Sakura could actually see this time, because Sasuke allowed it, and Naruto practicing another wind technique, when an Anbu dropped off Itachi. Itachi looked like he had seen a ghost, and Sasuke didn’t blame him. It had to be a bit of a shock. Sasuke thanked the Anbu and then led Itachi to a shady spot underneath the tree so he could sit with him and rest.

            “Kaasan…”

            “She already forgave you, niisan,” Sasuke reminded him.

            Itachi stared at Sasuke. “You know,” He whispered.

            Sasuke nodded.

            “How,” Itachi asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

            “It’s a secret,” Sasuke said quietly. “Tea?”

            Itachi took the bottle of green tea with shaky hands and Sasuke had to open it for him.

            “Drink slowly,” Sasuke said tenderly, stroking Itachi’s long hair, free from its ponytail. Itachi tried, but his hands kept trembling.

            “It’s all right,” Sasuke reassured him. “You’ll have plenty of time to get used to it.”

 

            If Itachi thought that seeing his mother was bad, seeing his father show up with bento boxes several hours later was much, much worse.

            “Tousan,” Sasuke got up, giving Illusion a tight hug.

            “You’ve done so well, Sasuke.” Fugaku gave him a smile. “Itachi, come and have lunch with us. Naruto, Sakura, it’s time for a break.”

            It was obviously Sasuke’s version of an idealized family, Itachi thought, and their relatives were going along with it. Was it guilt, for neglecting Sasuke for so long? Was it their penance, for the coup they had planned? The food was perfect, and tasted exactly the same as the dishes Mikoto had cooked before she had died.

            Itachi wasn’t sure how to feel.

           

            “Is Shisui here as well?” He asked quietly when the training was finally over and they were walking home with their parents.

            “No,” Sasuke answered.

            Itachi was inexplicably relieved.

            Dinner was simple, but delicious. Itachi was surprised he could even eat it. But to his surprise, looking at his father and mother was not as bad as he had feared. They forgave him. He already knew that they had forgiven him even when he had driven his katana through their bodies. And, he remembered his father’s last words. Take care of Sasuke…

            “Niisan,” Sasuke looked up at him.

            He hadn’t been doing a very good job, had he?

 

            “Sasuke,” He turned to look over at the boy. “What do you want?”

            His pure, precious, innocent little brother, gazed into his eyes, with a disquieting expression a child his age should not possess, and leaned over and kissed him, ever so gently, on the lips.

            “I want niisan, of course.”

            Mikoto and Fugaku were strangely unmoved by the scene taking place at the dinner table in front of them, as though their youngest son had not just kissed his older brother in front of them. These weren’t his parents, Itachi realized in horror. These were perfect representations of their parents, but not their actual parents. What had Sasuke _done_?

            “Edo Tensei,” He whispered in horror.

            “Never heard of it,” Sasuke replied nonchalantly, stealing another kiss. Despite his wishes, Itachi felt his body responding, as Sasuke’s hand slipped between his thighs. “Otouto…”

            “Do I excite you, niisan,” Sasuke purred. “I see I do…”

           

            Abruptly, Sasuke rose from his chair. Itachi’s relief was short-lived, as Sasuke’s form shifted before his very eyes, gaining three years of age and the appreciable differences in mass and height at the same time. His clothes changed to fit as well, exposing quite a bit of his chest. Itachi’s eyes widened as his Sharingan activated, something that should not have been possible with the chakra seals Sasuke had put on him. This was not a transformation technique. This was actual aging at a year per minute.

            “Like what you see,” The fifteen-year old Sasuke asked in his deeper voice. Itachi flushed, caught staring. “Come on, I’m not going to take you in my twelve year old body. That would just be wrong on so many levels.”

            Sasuke caught his wrist, and Itachi followed him, still slightly dazed from the revelations.

 

            They made it to Itachi’s room. Sasuke kissed him again, plunging his tongue into Itachi’s mouth. Itachi struggled slightly as Sasuke pinned him onto the bed, but the younger teen was stronger, especially now that he had aged himself up. Itachi still couldn’t figure out what sort of technique Sasuke had used – a kekkei genkai, he thought, but how – and he was quite alarmed when his clothing literally disappeared into thin air. Sasuke chuckled as his callused fingers ran down Itachi’s pale skin, found his hardening nipples, and roughly pinched them. Itachi couldn’t mask the gasp that escaped his lips.

            “You like that, niisan,” Sasuke taunted, as he continued to roughly abuse Itachi’s nipples while he kissed him again, hard enough to bruise, roughly grinding his hard, clothed erection against Itachi’s crotch.

            “S-Sasuke…” Itachi hissed, seeing the Sharingan shining in his brother’s eyes, knowing that his own eyes were activated, every detail of this forced encounter burned into his memory forever. “You are the devil…”

            “But you’re enjoying it, aren’t you?” Sasuke taunted. “I know you are; niisan… your body betrays you…”

            “Is this what you call love,” Itachi panted, arching his hips to increase the delicious friction between them.

            “I don’t know, niisan, is it?” He teased back.

            Itachi glared at Sasuke with all the force he could muster, Sasuke smiled as he finally removed his pants. He grabbed a vial of oil from the dresser and squeezed a generous amount on his hard shaft, coated his fingers with the slippery substance. Itachi spread his thighs, winced slightly as Sasuke worked the tip of the first finger in.

            He might not be a virgin, but it had been several years since that first incident…

            “Shhh… don’t worry, niisan, I’ll take care of you,” Sasuke promised, as though their earlier frenzied actions had been an entirely separate encounter.

            Itachi relaxed, feeling the storm within him abate slightly. “Sasuke…”

            The finger slowly probed deeper, finding that one spot. There it was… Sasuke watched him closely, before adding a second finger, and then a third. By the fourth finger, Itachi was practically begging for release, so Sasuke obliged, penetrating him slowly; making certain that he wasn’t hurting his precious aniki. He rocked his hips slowly as they made love with the sweetest innocence imaginable. Then, the second time, Sasuke took Itachi on his hands and knees on the wooden floor and fucked him hard until he begged for mercy, but that was fun too. And so was the time in the shower, but they eventually had to go to bed because Sasuke had training in the morning.

                       

            Sasuke put a henge on himself before heading to meet with his team the next morning. He briefly considered putting one on Itachi too, but decided against it. Itachi was simply too beautiful not to show off. The black dress trimmed with frothy white lace was lovely, with long, below-the-elbow sleeves and a full skirt that fell below the knees. It was of pure silk and sewn with seed pearls and pink rosettes. The black choker with the pink rose set off the graceful line of his throat perfectly. Even without makeup or ribbons Itachi was beautiful.

            Their parents accompanied them. Sakura still needed to practice her taijutsu, and Fugaku could help Naruto with his ninjutsu.

           

            Team Seven’s schedule was fairly regular. They ran a D-rank or two in the morning, and trained in the afternoons. The Hokage had not sent them on another C-rank yet, but Sasuke knew it was only a matter of time. No doubt it would not actually _be_ a C-rank, more like another A-rank disguised as a C-rank. And they would have Itachi with them. Hiruzen had spoken to him in private and confirmed the information he already knew about the Uchiha massacre, and Sasuke had accepted it. Konoha was not to blame – Danzo was.

            Sasuke trained against Itachi, and the only limitation was that Itachi was not to use the Susanoo. Itachi wasn’t sure what Sasuke had done to modify his seal, or his eyes for that matter, but he could use Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi just fine now, but there was no point using those when he sparred, and Sasuke was still inhumanly good. Sometimes, he trained against his ‘parents’, and even they were levels above him. It was unnerving… but he was definitely improving, he knew that much. Fugaku liked to use genjutsu against him. Mikoto preferred taijutsu. Both of them could use ninjutsu, and were beyond proficient with it, but it was interesting to note.

 

            Sarutobi Hiruzen had seen a lot of eccentric ninja in his time, so seeing Itachi in a different dress day after day didn’t even make him bat an eyelash. “Team Seven,” He told them when they reported to the mission office a month later. “I have another C-rank mission for you.”

            Naruto puffed out his chest. “Are we going on another protection mission?” He asked.

            Sakura slanted a sideways look at Sasuke. Sasuke met it unflinchingly. Sakura knew, or at least strongly suspected, that he was the real leader. He didn’t care. She wouldn’t out him in front of Naruto anyway.

            “You will escort the client, Suzuki Mahri, until she meets her betrothed in Hoshigakure.” Hiruzen said. When the woman walked in, they all stared for a moment. Suzuki Mahri had long, blonde hair that rippled like a field of ripening wheat. One eye was emerald green, the other peeped sapphire blue. She wore vibrant red and black leather armor that clung to her generous curves. This was no blushing maiden – this woman could take care of herself.

            “Well definitely protect you, dattebayo!” Naruto cheered.

            “We’ll meet at the village gates in an hour,” Sasuke asked. Naruto nodded.

            Mahri glanced around at them. Then her eyes fastened on Itachi. She scowled.

            “I don’t need you three brats. The only one I want to protect me is him!”

           

            “Unfortunately, Suzuki-san,” Sasuke cut in. “That is not an option. My brother is not allowed to leave the village.”

            Mahri looked ready to revolt. Hiruzen quickly took over.

            “However, exceptions can be made.” He said soothingly. “Itachi, Sasuke, if you could meet me in my office, please?”

            Itachi and Sasuke nodded. Sakura and Naruto went home to pack.

            “Hokage-sama,” Itachi asked, once they were safely ensconced in Hiruzen’s office.

            “Sasuke, can you remove the seal completely?”

            Sasuke nodded, making a few hand signs. Itachi sighed in relief as he felt his Mangekyo flare to life.

            “Susanoo is unlocked as well,” Sasuke said quietly.

            “You know the true purpose of this mission,” Hiruzen asked.

            They both nodded. Sakura and Naruto did not need to know.

            “Then go,” He dismissed them.

            They did.

 

End Chapter

Started 3/26/16

Completed 3/26/16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke knows Mirror and Illusion are not his parents, but this is obviously not the first time he’s used them to turn into his parent’s images, which brings into question his sanity. Sasuke used Time to age himself up. Time can rewind and stop time, and fast-forward it in CCS episode 12. That being said, both Sasuke and Itachi are somewhat bipolar…  
> Also, Sasuke learned about sex from either the Clow Cards or whatever porn/erotica the Uchiha Clan had lying around. This is not a good thing.


	7. Deception

Naruto quickly discovered that Mahri, for all that she was pretty, was really, really annoying. She was loud, she was whiny, she was flirting with Itachi, who at least was not wearing a dress today because that would have been wrong in so many ways he didn’t want to think about it, and she made a lot of mean comments to Sakura-chan and Sasuke too, for that matter. At least she walked fast, but she kept sending Itachi off to pick flowers for her, or to find pretty rocks, or get her another drink of water, and he just did it. He must have the patience of a saint! Really, Naruto thought, Sasuke was awfully forgiving. Itachi had killed his whole family and all Sasuke did was make him dress like a girl. If Itachi had killed his family, Naruto would have done much, much worse.

            Sakura, who was not as naïve as Naruto, had more of an inkling of what Sasuke and Itachi were doing behind closed doors, but she didn’t want to accept it. Surely Sasuke wouldn’t actually… not at his age… she shook her head. And certainly not with their parents living in the same house! There was just no way that could be possible!

            Sasuke sighed inwardly. They would have to wait until they were several days out of Konoha before any attempt could be made. He narrowed his eyes as he watched Mahri touch Itachi’s hair. Hate burned inside of him. Itachi was _his_. How dare she put her filthy hands on his doll? Now, she was messing up his hair. Sasuke had just brushed Itachi’s hair that morning so it would be perfect. He had to take several deep breaths to remind himself not to lose his temper. His eyes and chakra, at least, were perfectly calm, and not a trickle of killing intent leaked out.

            Eew! Naruto thought. Now she was kissing him on the cheek!

            “Suzuki-san,” Itachi’s voice was completely emotionless as he stepped away from her. “Please, you are betrothed.”

           

            “Enough of the games, Itachi,” Mahri said, pulling her to him. “Leader-sama wants you back, and we’re far away enough from Konoha now! I know that fool of a Hokage unsealed your chakra, so kill them both and grab the Kyuubi brat!”

            “What?” Naruto gasped, as Sasuke sprang in front of him and Sakura, taking a defensive stance and drawing his katana. “Sasuke, what’s going on?”

            “It was a trap, you moron.” Sasuke hissed, as Itachi’s eyes bled to blood red and black, the Mangekyo Sharingan spinning in both. “She’s from his organization and intends to take him back with her and you as well!”

            “S-Sasuke-kun…” Sakura stammered, drawing a kunai, as Naruto got the picture and drew on the Kyuubi’s power.

            “I’m not letting them take me so easily!” He declared. The shark guy with the chakra stealing sword was dead, wasn’t he? He’d show them!

 

            Suzuki Mahri laughed. The pink-haired girl was barely an annoyance, and she went down fast. The Kyuubi brat was more skilled than she had given him credit for, but while he could heal quickly, in Kyuubi mode he was little more than a mindless beast, unable to actually formulate a strategy. She let Itachi keep his brother at bay while she knocked out the Jinchuuriki.

            “Playtime’s over, Itachi,” She called, before she screamed as she saw the tip of a sword emerging from between her breasts and another Sasuke behind her, clutching the sword. Shadow Clone, she thought wildly. No! I would have noticed… and surely if the one fighting Itachi were the clone, it would have popped long ago... is this Mokuton?

            “I want you to disappear,” Sasuke hissed, and Mahri screamed when she saw her fingers and toes, her hands and feet dissolving into nothingness. He twisted the sword harder, and cut her heart out. Then, he decapitated her, just to make sure.

            Itachi watched the Sasuke he had been fighting disappear, and dismissed his Susanoo.

            “Mission complete,” Sasuke reported.

            Itachi nodded, as he sealed the remainder of Suzuki Mahri’s corpse in a scroll, watching as Sasuke began to clean and polish his sword. He went to wake up Sakura and Naruto once Sasuke had finished.

            “Itachi-san,” Sakura gasped. “Mahri is-.” She saw the blood, and gulped. “Oh,” She said, very quietly.

            Naruto, unfortunately, was still unconscious. Itachi hoisted Naruto onto his back so he could carry him.

            “Let’s return to the village.”

            Sasuke nodded, and they were off.

 

            “We’re very sorry, Hokage-sama,” Sakura reported, after they had dropped Naruto off at the hospital. “The mission was a failure.”

            “Suzuki Mahri was an agent of the Akatsuki,” Sasuke reported. “She attempted to capture Naruto and bring Itachi back with her. We were forced to eliminate her.”

            “It cannot be helped,” Hiruzen sighed, as Itachi laid the scrolls containing Suzuki Mahri’s corpse and belongings on the Hokage’s desk. “The mission will, of course, be marked as a failure. You will be suspended from active duty for the next two weeks as punishment, but there were extenuating circumstances. Do not be too hard on yourselves. You are dismissed. Sasuke, Itachi, please stay behind. I will need to discuss the restrictions of your stay again.”

“Yes, Hokage-sama,” The two of them chorused.

            Sakura sighed as she left the office. Two weeks of suspension from missions was a light punishment. She could deal with that, and really, they had no way of knowing about Suzuki Mahri…

           

            “Well done,” Hiruzen told the two of them. “The payment will of course be transferred to your accounts.”

            His Anbu nodded.

            “The Chuunin Exams will be coming up in a month,” The Hokage continued. “As you already know, Tsunade has returned to the village. Kakashi has already undergone the treatment and awoken, however, in the interests of preserving village security, he will continue to remain in the hospital. He has already recommended you three for the Exams, and I agree. Orochimaru has taken an interest in you, Sasuke.”

            “You believe he will infiltrate the Exams?” Sasuke asked quietly.

            “Jiraiya has found evidence of at least one traitor in our midst.”

            “So I am the bait,” Sasuke’s smile was vicious. Hiruzen nodded.

            “If he approaches you, do not hesitate to kill him, even if you reveal your abilities before your teammates, but ensure that you do take him out, no matter what.”

            Sasuke bowed his head in acknowledgment.

 

            “Who are they, really?” Itachi asked when they reached home. His mother and father had already made dinner, and the two of them were soaking in the furo together. It was nothing new. Sasuke lazily opened his eyes, looked at Itachi thoughtfully.

            “You always lied to me and told me to forgive you…” He said thoughtfully. “I’m not sure I should tell you the truth…”

            “Sasuke…” Itachi frowned. Sasuke gently reached out to stroke his older brother’s hair.

            “One day, Itachi, I’ll tell you, but not today.” Sasuke promised sincerely. Itachi sighed, trusting in his brother’s promise.

 

            “I hate you…” The little girl cried. “You took away all my friends!”

            “Shh…” Sasuke reached out his arms to embrace her. “You can join our family too.”

            Void sobbed as she climbed into his lap, he stroked her long soft hair. “It’s all right now,” He coaxed, letting her drink in his magic, taste his blood. “I’ll take care of you from now on.”

            Yue and Cerberus watched as she fed greedily. Master’s magic was powerful, darkness so strong they could drown in it. They had undergone the change already, every single one of them, accepting him as their new Master over Clow Reed. Now, no one else could take them away, unless Sasuke died. Even death might not release them. Reincarnation was a strong possibility with how strongly they were bound. They found that they did not care.

 

            “What is this?” Sakura asked, as she saw the slim book in her basement. “The… Clon?” Curious, she opened the clasp. Inside was a small deck of cards. The first card on top was a picture of a muscular man and labeled ‘The Wind’.

            “Wind,” She said, curiously. Suddenly, a fierce wind blew up. Sakura yelped in surprise as the rest of the cards within the book scattered.

            “W-What just happened?”

            When a talking pink rabbit with wings entered the picture and handed her a funny pink wand, Sakura fainted. Learning that she had accidentally released the twenty-five Clon Reid cards and would now have to capture them as some sort of Card Captor did not make things any better. Magic was real?

            Bunny-chan told her that it was, and that once she did, there were an even stronger set of cards called the Clow Cards that she could go after. Sakura wasn’t too sure about that, but she did want to be powerful enough to impress Sasuke-kun, so she would think about it.

 

            “What was that flare of magic just now,” Sasuke asked Cerberus. “It was a type of Card magic, wasn’t it?”

            Yue nodded grimly.

            “Clow Reed had many rivals and imitators,” He said. “If the Clow Book found its way to this dimension, it’s not impossible that some of the others did too.”

            Sasuke cursed. “Well, we’d better put a stop to it quickly. Did Clow leave any artifacts with you that can be quickly used to track magic?”

            “He did create a compass that could be used to locate the Clow Cards, but it was left with the Li Clan on his mother’s side of the family,” Cerberus said thoughtfully.

            “I’ll use Create then,” Sasuke replied. “Unfortunately, my training did not focus on tracking spells.”

            “No,” Cerberus agreed. “But you are good at shielding yourself.”

            Sasuke gave him a grin as he got to work. “Mirror and Illusion could probably use a break as well.” The two Cards nodded, returning to Card form. While they did rest every night, they appreciated their Master’s thoughtfulness.

            When the tracking spells were finished, Sasuke sent them off and then Yue let Itachi take over. Itachi frowned when he woke up in Sasuke’s room, lying on his bed. “Sasuke?”

            “I hope you’re not too tired, niisan,” Sasuke purred, cuddling next to him.

            “Of course not,” Itachi replied, although he wondered how it had gotten so late without him noticing. When had he lost consciousness?

            Then Sasuke kissed him, and he was too distracted to keep thinking about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke used Little to hide himself on Mahri, impaled her with Sword and then used Erase. The one fighting Itachi was Twin.   
> Sasuke already changed all the Clow Cards into ‘Sasuke Cards’ in chapter 1 unknowingly. He changed Void in this chapter.   
> Clow Reed had his rivals and imitators. One of them was Clon Reid.


	8. Discovery

Sakura had not slept well that night at all. Despite the power granted by the Wind Card she was now in possession of, she was still somewhat terrified and sleep-deprived and so, trying to concentrate at training was terrible. After an hour, Sasuke dismissed her and sent her home to sleep. Then, on her way home, she had the misfortune of running into a civilian possessed by the Knife Card and almost got skewered before she remembered she was a kunoichi and had kunai on her. She finally disarmed the man and figured out how to work the wand Bunny-chan had given her before staggering home and falling asleep. When she woke up, it was to the discovery that the Hail Card had almost completely destroyed her bedroom and she was buried neck-deep in ice, and at least the Wind Card was strong enough to beat it up. Her life absolutely sucked.

            I need to talk to someone about this, she thought desperately. Naruto was still in the hospital, so that left Sasuke. Bunny-chan had told her not to let her family know about it and they were civilians. She couldn’t even talk to them about ninja matters, but maybe Sasuke would understand? At the very least, he wouldn’t laugh at her, right? Sakura cleaned up her room as best as she could and then walked to the Uchiha compound. She hesitated, before she knocked on the door. Itachi met her there.

 

            “Itachi-san, is Sasuke-kun in?” She asked hopefully.

            “Yes,” Itachi replied. “I’ll go get him.”

            “Thank you,” Sakura replied, taking off her sandals. Bunny-chan hovered at her side. “I still think this is a bad idea,” She said.

            “Quiet, you,” Sakura glared at her.

 

            Sasuke met Sakura at the door and welcomed him inside with his summon Cerberus on his shoulder. As soon as Bunny-chan saw him, she tensed. Cerberus didn’t look too happy either.

            “So it was you, Sakura,” Sasuke said coldly. “Come in.”

            Sakura blinked in surprise. Itachi looked puzzled. Bunny-chan suddenly launched herself, hissing and spitting, at Cerberus. To Sakura’s astonishment, Cerberus transformed from winged lion cub to full-grown winged lion, flattening Bunny-chan beneath one large paw.

            “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Sasuke stated. “Cerberus doesn’t have the best temper when he runs into cheap imitations. And, as you can see, he’s not limited to his false form.”

            Bunny-chan said something that sounded remarkably like ‘You bastard’.  

           

            “Tea,” Sasuke asked, leading Sakura to the dining room.

            “Ah… yes please,” Sakura still wasn’t quite sure what was going on. Itachi followed, leaving Cerberus and Bunny-chan to their one-sided fight. A few minutes later, Cerberus, in winged lion cub form again, came in dragging a limp, bedraggled Bunny-chan.

            “I assume Bunny-chan here,” Sasuke had a cruel smile on his face, “Already told you the basics of being a Card Captor.”  
            Itachi’s eyes sharpened. Sakura blushed. “How did you know?”

            “I suspected,” Sasuke replied. “Because that would have been what I would have had to go through, had I not already bound the Clow Cards with my blood when Cerberus appeared to me.”

            “Y-You cheater!” Bunny-chan leapt at Sasuke, who simply put a finger to his lips. Bunny-chan’s mouth kept opening and closing, but no sounds were coming up and she was frozen in place.

            “Ah, Silent… so useful, and underappreciated at times.” Sasuke continued speaking, as though he had not been disturbed. “Where was I?”        

            “The Clow Cards,” Itachi prompted.

            “Thank you, niisan…” Sasuke took a sip of his tea. “Clow Reed was once the most powerful magician in the world. He created a set of fifty-two magical Cards, known as Clow Cards, and two guardians for them. One, Cerberus, you are already familiar with. The other, Yue, shall remain a mystery for now. He had his rivals and imitators, of course, as you have found out firsthand, Sakura, with the Clon Reid Cards, speaking of which, Clon Reid’s second guardian is in the hospital at this very moment. Bunny-chan, Clon must have been desperate indeed, to use the Kyuubi’s chakra to create his second guardian… whose power does not even compare to that of a single Clow Card…”

            “So that’s what Tousan and Kaasan were,” Itachi spoke quietly. “Card spirits…”

            Sasuke nodded.

            “Sasuke-kun, is there any way you can help me?” Sakura asked.

            “Technically, Bunny-chan chose you to capture the Clon Reid Cards. They’re really not my problem,” Sasuke told her. “But, you’re also my teammate, and those who abandon their teammates are worse than trash. And the faster we work together to catch them, the faster Naruto wakes up and gets out of the hospital, so I’ll help you. Who knows, I may find something I want.”

            “You can have all of the Cards.” She told him.

            “I don’t want all of them,” Sasuke said patiently. “Besides, they’ll come in handy once you know how to use them. I promise. It’ll add elemental techniques you don’t normally have, at least.”

            Sakura had to admit he had a point.

           

            “You can’t do this!” Bunny-chan yelled at Sakura once the silencing spell wore off after a quiet dinner. The two of them were walking home together, and Sasuke had given Sakura a few spell tags that she could use to alert him if any danger happened. “He’s the enemy!”

            “He’s my teammate,” Sakura snapped back. “Do you know how close I came to dying twice already?”

            “You weren’t in any real danger,” Bunny-chan defended. “You’re still alive, aren’t you?”

            Sakura kind of wished Cerberus had beaten her guardian up some more. At least, she thought, it explained why Naruto, who usually healed so fast, was in the hospital. It made her hate this Clon Reid person even more. How dare he experiment on her other teammate like this! Yes, Naruto was dumb and annoying sometimes, but he was still her teammate!

 

            Itachi watched as Sasuke laid the Cards out on the bed, every single one of them. Gently, he traced the design on each with his fingertips. There were so many…

            “Your family,” He said quietly.

            “ _Our_ family,” Sasuke corrected, holding him closely from behind.

            The day after he had gotten out of the hospital, Sasuke had said. Itachi shivered a little at the thought of fifty-two inhuman spirits taking care of his brother on a daily basis for four years. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined something like this happening to his beloved, precious little brother. It all made a terrible sort of sense now. Gods and demons, what had he done?

            “Niisan,” Sasuke asked, tightening his grip. “Are you all right?”

            “S-Sasuke,” He shivered. “They didn’t hurt you, did they?”

            “Of course not,” Sasuke reassured him. “Our family would never hurt me.”

            He kissed the back of Itachi’s neck, gently, waited as he patiently finished his examination, before he gathered up their family and placed them back in his belt pouch. “Now let’s go to bed,” He crooned.

            Sasuke didn’t understand why Itachi was so worried about their family hurting him. He held him close and made love to him, deep and slow, just the way he liked it, wanting him to relax. Aniki was too tense sometimes. It would be all right. He would help Sakura with the Clon Reid Cards, and then Naruto would wake up, and they could go take the Chuunin Exams together.

 

            Sakura was on edge all day while they trained, but nothing untoward happened. Itachi found himself practicing taijutsu against the Fight Card, which worked out about as well as he had thought it would, which was not very. As Fight had explained to him before the match, she really was proficient in just about every type of taijutsu there was. Itachi groaned as he got up. And Sasuke had put up with this when he was only eight?

            “There is no way you got that strong in only four years,” Itachi accused him when they soaked in the furo together that night.

            “Who said it was only four years?” Sasuke replied. “I lost count of how many it was already. With Loop and Time, I could literally relive one day over and over an infinite number of times.”

            Itachi stared at him.

 

            “Does it frighten you, niisan, that I’m stronger than you?” Sasuke looked at him, eyes Sharingan red. “Are you afraid that I’ll hurt you? I would never hurt you. I love you.” He shifted a little, moved so he could sit in Itachi’s lap, tucked his head under Itachi’s chin and snuggled closer. “Hold me.”

            Itachi did, taking deep breaths as he stroked Sasuke’s hair, still twelve years old in a fifteen year old body. “I believe you,” He told Sasuke truthfully. “I know you won’t hurt me.”

            “Good,” Sasuke closed his eyes, wriggled a little closer. “I love you, niisan.” He repeated.

            Itachi swallowed. He didn’t trust himself to speak, so he just kept moving his hand, slowly, from Sasuke’s spiky locks down the nape of his neck, his back and shoulder blades. Sasuke purred deep in his throat, arched against his brother. A quiet whimper of need escaped his lips. “Niisan…”

            Itachi knew it was wrong, and he shouldn’t take advantage of Sasuke like this, but at the same time, he needed… “Sasuke…”

            “You can take me this time,” Sasuke gazed at him through half-lidded eyes. “I don’t mind. Just be gentle, please?”

            So Itachi did.

            He loved Sasuke, his beautiful, broken little brother, but that was not the only reason. In a sense, Sasuke was the only protection he had from those fifty-odd, inhuman entities that lived with them, the rest of their _family._ And Itachi knew he had to protect himself, as well. He hadn’t survived so long without taking the necessary precautions.

            Sasuke sighed and snuggled closer against his chest. Itachi kissed his soft lips, brushed a strand of hair out of his face. He closed his eyes, and pulled the sheet and blankets over both of them. Tomorrow was another day.

           

            Two days later, Sakura woke up when she realized that her house was on fire. The fact that Bunny-chan was screaming in her ear was also helpful. She threw on her clothing and rushed to her parents’ room to wake them up. They stumbled outside, coughing and choking. Sakura activated one of the alarm seals Sasuke had given her immediately, noticing that at least someone had already called a few ninja and they were attempting water jutsu, but the flames were still blazing merrily.

            Sasuke flickered to her side less than a minute later, with a frown on his face. Within minutes, a sudden downpour had doused the fire, and he had yanked Sakura into her own shadow where she had managed to summon her wand and capture the Fire Card. The incident did not make her any happier with Bunny-chan. Also, now that her house was mostly missing a roof, Sasuke had invited her to sleep over at his place, but not in any romantic way. Still, Sakura thought, take that, Ino-pig!

            “I’ve got space, and most of the houses in the Uchiha district are abandoned.” Sasuke explained as he showed Sakura into an empty guest bedroom. “Make yourself comfortable.”

            “Thank you, Sasuke-kun.” Sakura said, still a little shocked that he had invited her to live with him.

            “Well, maybe if you catch the Water Card soon, Naruto will wake up. Wind and Water should be his elements,” Sasuke pointed out. “Just like Fire and… hmm, you don’t have an Earth Card in your set, do you?”

            “Wouldn’t you like to know,” Bunny-chan said rudely.

            “If I remember correctly, Clon had Tree and Metal.” Cerberus said. “He didn’t have Earth. He used the Five Element Eastern system instead of the Four Element Western one.”

            “Ah,” Sasuke replied. “Either way, my tracking spells haven’t found any other Clon Reid Cards yet, but we’ll keep an eye out.”

            “Thank you, Sasuke-kun.” Sakura replied gratefully.

           

            Bunny-chan growled and spat a miniature fireball at Cerberus. Cerberus opened his mouth and absorbed it.

            “No fighting, please,” Sasuke said. “Itachi’s still sleeping and I don’t want to wake him up. He had a pretty long night.”

            Bunny-chan glared at Sasuke, who narrowed his eyes. Sasuke went to make breakfast. He was just setting the plates on the table when he felt Itachi’s presence behind him. That was different. Itachi nuzzled the junction between neck and shoulder, nipping lightly. Sasuke smirked inwardly. He’d never expected his brother to be so…playful before. Playful was good, except for that odd compulsion magic which suggested that Itachi was not fully in control of himself. Sasuke sighed inwardly. It seemed as though the Clon Cards were not as innocent as the Clow Cards. Well, it would hardly be fair to subject Sakura to the effects of this one so he had better capture it himself.

            “Ah… aniki…” He whimpered. “Not here… please…”

            “Sasuke…” Itachi purred seductively, and Sasuke groaned as that went straight to his cock. A quick body flicker and they were both in his bed. He gave Itachi a pleading look, Itachi chuckled and pulled his pants and boxers down. “Don’t worry,” He chuckled. “I’ll take good care of you…”

            “I’m sure you will niisan…” Sasuke replied, hissing only slightly as Itachi thrust into him without any preparation. Itachi wanted to scream in frustration. Was Sasuke truly oblivious to the fact that he was being controlled by an outside force, or did he just not care? The Lust Card gasped as he sank his borrowed body’s cock into the boy’s tight, wet, heat. It felt so good… He dug his teeth into the black haired child’s shoulder, biting down hard enough to draw blood, not seeing Sasuke’s lips curve up in a triumphant smile.

            “Fuck…” Itachi groaned, lapping at the wound he had made, feeling his mind starting to clear, as the Lust Card’s eyes widened in sudden panic.

            “Oh, I agree…” Sasuke slid off of Itachi’s length, pushing his brother down onto the bed and pulling his pants and boxers down to expose him. He was kind enough to explain what had happened as he thoughtfully prepared his brother, using his fingers and plenty of lubricant.

            “You see, Card,” Sasuke said, as he cruelly ground his fingertips against Itachi’s prostate, hearing both of them groan. “My binding spells are woven into my blood, as well as my body. You can’t take both without consequences.” He hummed as he scissored his fingers, hearing them pant harder. “You’re mine now.” He gently kissed Itachi on the lips, mounting him. “Return to your true form.”

            Itachi cried out in pleasure as Sasuke entered him, his body glowed, and then a Card formed, appeared on his chest. Sasuke picked it up, studied the image of a well-endowed hermaphrodite, amused.

            “The Lust Card… I see.” He laid it aside, and then kissed his brother again. Itachi cried out as Sasuke rode him, harder and faster, until both of them spiraled over the edge of pleasure. Afterwards, Itachi panted, as Sasuke gave him little kisses, stroked his hair.

            “Breakfast is going to get cold, niisan,” Sasuke told him. “I’m going to take a quick shower. See you soon?”

            Itachi nodded, watching as Sasuke slid the new Card into his deck pouch. He definitely needed a shower as well. On one hand, that Card had violated him, stolen his body, but what Sasuke had done to him afterwards…  He shivered.

            He was doomed.

                       

End Chapter

Started 3/26/16

Completed 3/26/16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the anime, Time can rewind (at minimum) one day over and over. Loop can loop space. And Sasuke can be a bastard~


	9. Too much information

“Sasuke-kun, is everything all right?” Sakura asked when Sasuke emerged from the shower. She was in the kitchen, helping herself to breakfast. “I didn’t want to start without you, but Cerberus said it was okay.”

            “I just defeated one of those Clon Reid Cards, and its fine. I was just otherwise occupied.” Sasuke explained.

            “Oh, which one,” Sakura asked curiously.

            “Trust me; you’re better off not knowing.” Sasuke said, giving Bunny-chan a dark glare. “What kind of sick pervert was Clon Reid anyway?”

            Sakura blinked. “…Pervert?”

            “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Bunny-chan defended.

            “Well, explain _this._ ” Sasuke slapped the Lust Card down on the table. Sakura took a peek, her eyes widening at the provocative image on the Card.

 

            “Sasuke-kun, are you all right?” She gasped.

            “Well, Itachi and I are still in one piece, so yes,” He said bluntly. “I restrained him before he could rape me.” Not that you can rape the willing, his mind supplied helpfully. They didn’t need to know the details.

            “Bunny-chan!” Sakura shrieked, before she punched the winged rabbit clear into the living room. “How many cards are there like that out there?” Her voice had risen an entire octave. “I-I don’t want to deal with this!”

            “O-only three more!” Bunny-chan whimpered when she returned. “The Reshape Card can alter your body in any shape or form. The Mind Card can do the same to your mind. And the Reality Card can make those changes permanent.”

            “And you didn’t think to tell me any of this beforehand?” Sakura was visibly fuming now. You could practically see the steam rising from her ears and puffing out of her nostrils. “Don’t go anywhere, Bunny-chan. You’re going to tell me about the rest of the Clon Reid Cards right now.”

            Bunny-chan gulped.

 

            “Water Card, Metal Card, and Tree Card are the other three most powerful Cards remaining,” She said as quickly as she could. “They control the elements their name suggests. Water controls Water, Metal controls all metals, and Tree controls plant life.”

            “Fine,” Sakura said. “How do we defeat them?”

            Bunny-chan winced. “Tree and Metal are weak to Fire, and Water is weak to Tree.” She confessed.

            “All right,” Sakura took a deep breath. That was a start, at least. “What’s next?”

            “Lightning,” Bunny-chan babbled. “It uses electrical attacks.”

            “Fine,” Sakura wasn’t sure how she’d deal with that one, perhaps Wind. “Next?”

            “The Bind Card, it conjures ropes, webs, chains and the like to tie the opponents up.”

            Sakura winced. That could be dangerous. She motioned for Bunny-chan to continue.

            “The Slow Card,” Bunny-chan gulped. “It slows the opponent down.”

            “The Levitate Card,” Bunny-chan mentioned next. Sakura rested her chin on her hands. She had a pretty good guess what that did, although that could be an interesting ability to have. “Is that the same as flying? How high can you go?”

            “I’m not sure,” Bunny-chan confessed. “The Attack and Defense Cards are next. They boost your martial arts skills in those areas, respectively.”

            Sakura shrugged. She knew taijutsu wasn’t her strongest point.

            “The Stone Card,” Bunny-chan counted on her paw. Another element, Sakura thought. At this point, she was going to have as much ninjutsu as Sasuke did. 

            “The Crystal Card…” That added another element.

            “The Mirage Card shows you illusions…”

            “I thought so,” Sakura was starting to get a headache.

            “The Timeslip Card,” Bunny wrinkled her brow. “It’s hard to describe, but it allows you to slip between seconds of time.” Sakura gasped.

            “This just keeps getting better and better,” Sasuke said dryly. That one seemed particularly dangerous. Would he even be able to counter that one with Time, or would Loop be a better choice?

            “And you said that’s not even one of the strongest ones?” Sakura shivered.

            Bunny-chan clapped her paws together to get their attention. “The Gateway Card,” She said next. “It is how Clon Reid managed to travel to this world.” That caught their attention.

            So, there was a way to travel to other worlds. That was very important.

            “The Poison Card, master of poisons,” Bunny-chan said. Sakura sighed. She didn’t want to meet that one anytime soon. Sasuke just hoped a broad-spectrum antidote would be enough to temporarily shut it down.

            “And finally, the Whore Card…” Bunny-chan finished.   
            Both Sasuke and Sakura blinked at her.

            “…Could you repeat that?” Sakura asked.

            Bunny-chan looked sheepish. “The last Card Clon Reid managed to create was made by sealing the soul of the whore who knifed him when he tried to cheat her on his payment the morning after. Its powers are unknown.”

            Sasuke and Sakura looked a little queasy.

            “…He really was a horny teenager, wasn’t he?” Sasuke finally muttered.

            “Pervert,” Sakura agreed.

            Itachi, who had caught the entire conversation, just smiled to himself.

 

            After eating their now cold breakfast, Sakura went to practice using her Fire and Wind Cards while Itachi trained with Fight and Sasuke monitored his tracking spells. While Bunny-chan’s explanation had been truthful, as far as he could tell (and verified with the discreet use of Libra), the little winged rabbit was still hiding something. He had a pretty good idea of what it was. Twenty-five cards to a deck didn’t quite make sense. There had to be at least _one_ more Card… Quite possibly, it was something like Void had been, strong enough to balance out the power of the other twenty-five.

            Sasuke went to visit Naruto in the hospital. He had a sneaking suspicion as to why Naruto was there. Mixing magic with demonic chakra was probably not a good idea. Having a guardian merge with a human host was one thing. Having a guardian merge with a human host who was already hosting a bijuu was probably not a good thing.

            Kakashi was already in the room, his nose buried in a familiar orange book. He looked up when Sasuke entered the room. Sasuke nodded to his Jounin-sensei and spent half an hour sitting there, occasionally talking to the comatose Naruto, telling him how he and Sakura were doing, carefully omitting any mention of magical incidents. He could definitely feel the foreign magic struggling against the Kyuubi’s chakra. The Kyuubi was winning, for now, but once all the Cards were captured… the balance would probably tip the other way.

            “I’m sure Naruto appreciates the visit, Sasuke.” Kakashi said when he got up to leave.

            “I’ll make sure Sakura visits soon, too.” Sasuke promised.

            Kakashi nodded and watched him leave with a slight smile.

 

            Sakura was exhausted when Sasuke returned from the hospital. Sasuke handed her a shake. “Drink this.” He said. “We don’t have enough time, so I’m going to make time.”

            “What do you mean?” Sakura looked at him, taking a sip of the shake. Her eyes widened as she felt energy fill her. What was in that shake?

            “We need Naruto to wake up and be back in shape before the Chuunin Exams,” Sasuke replied. “That means we need to capture all the Clon Cards before then. If we wait for them to come to us there’s no guarantee they’ll appear in time. So I’m going to attract them.”

            Bunny-chan’s eyes went wide. “But you can’t!” She gasped. “There’s no way Sakura can defeat them all, at her level!”

            Sakura glared at her guardian.

            “I wasn’t finished,” Sasuke said. “But you are correct. We’ll just have to get Sakura to that level.”

            Itachi smiled. Sakura got the feeling that she was missing something very important.

            “Keep practicing,” Sasuke told her. “We have plenty of time.” For some reason, that statement struck Sakura as very ominous. She excused herself and went to use the restroom. On impulse, she checked the date and time on the clock when she was finished.

            By the next morning, Sakura had realized what had happened.

            “Once you’re proficient with the Cards you have, time will resume.” Sasuke reassured her. “It’s all up to you.”

            Sakura scowled at him. She hated it when he was right.

 

            The Tree Card withered into flames. Sakura breathed heavily as she captured it, a smile on her face. Thank goodness that had been the first one to show up!

            Sasuke slashed through everything the Bind Card could conjure up with ease.

            Tree shattered Stone, its thick branches and roots ripping apart the rock. Sakura almost felt sorry for the Card, but not enough to keep herself from capturing it.

            “There is no difference between my illusion and my reality,” Sasuke whispered, as he gazed into the Reality Card’s eyes, much to Itachi’s amusement as he watched the scene taking place. “You came when you sensed I was casting Illusion, didn’t you? But I didn’t change a single thing… everything… was exactly the same as it already was. And now, you’re mine…”

           

            Lightning crashed against the Stone, but Stone held firm. Bunny-chan squeaked in fear, but Sakura was confident. She smiled triumphantly as she captured the Card.

            Metal glowed red-hot as Fire finally melted it down.

            She jumped from rooftop to rooftop, finally using Lightning to strike Levitate down.

            Sakura panted as she trapped Water with Hail and Tree. “Finally…”

            In the hospital, Naruto’s eyes opened. He might not be fully recovered, but the balance had tipped enough that he was awake.

            Kakashi gasped, and called for the doctors right now.

 

            “Sakura-chan, Sasuke,” Naruto met them outside the hospital the next day.

            “You already know,” Sasuke said. Naruto nodded.

            “Yeah, he and I aren’t exactly separate,” Naruto said. “I’m still kind of pissed, and I don’t want to fight either of you, but the sooner we get it over with, the sooner I can get my body back.”

            “You can absorb him?” Sasuke asked, intrigued.

            Naruto’s smile was foxy sharp. “Yes. He was only temporary. Clon Reid didn’t have enough power to permanently create a second guardian.” He cast a hungry look at Bunny-chan. The winged rabbit shivered.

            “In any case, I seriously need to get back into shape, so,” Naruto turned to look at Sasuke. “Mind doing that nifty little trick for me?”

            “Already on it,” Sasuke said, as they walked towards the nearest training ground.

           

 

End Chapter

Started 3/26/16

Completed 3/27/16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Team Seven reunites! The Bind, Reshape and Mind Cards were taken from the Breast Expansion Archive Unending Adventure CCS threads, which I participated in back in 2004. The Gateway Card came from White Shirt’s hentai fanfic ‘Cardcaptors: The Gateway Card’ on the Greyarchive but I was unable to contact him for permission to use it.


	10. Visitation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Card Captor Sakura belongs to CLAMP. Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi and Kodansha. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfiction belongs to me under international copyright laws and taking it is plagiarism. Don’t steal and don’t sue. Thank you *Phantomness bows*

“In the name of the moon, we will punish you!”

            “What are you saying, dattebayo?” Naruto asked the blonde girl in the red, blue, and white leotard with the weird buns on her head and the impractical long pigtails that was standing in front of four other girls in color coded red, blue, yellow-orange, and green. “In case you didn’t notice, we just saved your lives!” He pointed to the remains of what had once been a crowd of possessed women before they had knocked them out.

            “You murdered them!” The girl with the red skirt burst out. “They were innocent civilians!”

            “They were trying to kill you,” Sasuke pointed out coldly.

            “We could have healed them,” The blonde girl sniffled, clutching a strange pink wand topped with a crescent moon and a glistening silver crystal. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. That was a very powerful magic item she was holding there…

           

            “Did you want to take a look at this, otouto?” Itachi asked, handing Sasuke the wand. It was very fortunate indeed that Itachi had not actually touched the Ginzuishou, as having his moon guardian touch the source of such pure power would have caused some sort of reaction to happen – Sasuke was not sure what. Light-type, Sasuke thought, and also moon-type… he tossed it back to this Sailor Moon and she caught it, almost tripping over her own two feet.

            “You give us no choice,” The girl in green said, and attacked with lightning. The girl in red flung an ofuda at him, and followed with a fireball. Sasuke looked at the paper seal blankly. Did she think this was going to hold him? The girl in blue at least managed an impressive mist that spread quite widely, but Naruto’s wind scattered it before it could do much. And all right, the girl in orange had had a nice beam of concentrated light. But the others were pathetic! When Sakura’s punch sent the blonde leader flying into a nearby building, the others all froze. Seriously, how weak were they?

            “That’s enough,” Another voice said. Itachi turned and saw an older woman with long, green hair, wearing a black and maroon version of the leotard. “I apologize for my… acquaintances. They are young and foolish.”

            “Hn,” Sasuke said, Sharingan still blazing in his eyes. Itachi quickly moved behind his brother and wrapped his arms around him, nuzzling him gently. Sasuke relaxed slightly, although he didn’t deactivate the Sharingan.

            “They are, however, the only defense our world has against the forces of darkness that threaten it.” Sailor Pluto continued. Sakura winced. Naruto laughed. Sasuke frowned.

            “Fine,” Sasuke bit out. “Just point us to the Gateway Card, and we’ll go.”

            Pluto gave a mental sigh of relief.

            “But you owe us one,” Sasuke’s eyes glittered, as he activated Time and restored the broken Senshi to full health. “We’ll be back to collect someday.”

            That was what she was afraid of.

            The first test of the Chuunin Exams was easy.

            Surviving the Forest of Death would not be so much of a challenge, Sakura thought. She and Sasuke and Naruto were in an unfamiliar environment, yes, but they had certainly gone through a lot of training, and they did have a secret weapon on their side. That being said, they hadn’t expected to run into Orochimaru of the Sannin right off the bat.

            “I will have all the Clow Cards,” Orochimaru gloated.

            Sasuke decided that Orochimaru clearly had not done all his research if he was mixing up the Clon Cards with the Clow Cards. Admittedly, moving in slow motion was aggravating, but at least Orochimaru hadn’t killed any of them yet. Sakura was clutching her Sealing Wand defensively, Naruto had just exploded his way out of a giant snake, and he was trying to calculate if his control of Time would negate Orochimaru’s use of the Timeslip Card while trying to ignore the poison already pumping through his veins.

            Sasuke’s eyes narrowed. First things first, he thought. Dash, Mirror, and Twin flashed, negating the effects of the Slow Card and enabling the three of them to move normally. Orochimaru looked momentarily surprised, but he could still feel his body violently struggling against the effects of the damned bite. Sakura attacked with Tree, not a bad choice, considering that they were in a forest, but Orochimaru just phased away from her attack, slipping through the branches of the trees like a puff of air and when he attempted to use Time to stop the man, it was completely ineffective. Or was it?

            Sasuke’s Sharingan spun as he watched Naruto’s Shadow Clones leap at Orochimaru, possessed with Fight’s skill, each strike backed with Power. The forest around them was quickly becoming decimated, and he could see Orochimaru panting as he dodged and destroyed Naruto’s endless army of clones as well as avoiding his and Sakura’s elemental attacks. If Timeslip was anything like Time, it would have a pretty steep energy cost, and even a Sannin like Orochimaru could not use it continuously. He calculated that Orochimaru’s energy level was low enough, so when Orochimaru tried to escape again, Sasuke cast Time. This time, when Orochimaru flickered away, Sasuke followed him with Through, having sealed off this area with Loop. He hit Orochimaru with Lock, met the Sannin’s furious eyes.

            “You think you’ve won, Sasuke-kun,” Orochimaru hissed. Sasuke was taken aback when Lock began to dissolve. What was happening? Orochimaru should not be able to break Lock! No, he thought. This was different – this was similar to Erase – but Bunny-chan hadn’t mentioned anything like it! His worst fears had just been confirmed, but which Card was it?

            Sasuke called Lock back, before Orochimaru could absorb it. “Too bad, Sasuke-kun,” Orochimaru taunted him. “With this Card, I can absorb anything you throw at me. And now, I think I’ll take your Cards…”

            Sasuke smiled sweetly, and released Void. A moment later, he emerged into the real world with Orochimaru’s body neatly separated in six parts and properly sealed in a storage seal. There was no more cursed seal anywhere on his neck or poison in his body.

 

            “Ready to go,” Naruto asked.

            Sakura handed him a handful of soldier pills. Sasuke ate them slowly, and then nodded. “Are you two ready to go?”

            Naruto cracked his knuckles. Sakura grinned. Sasuke shrugged. His mission was complete, but he owed it to his team to see them through the Chuunin Exams. Also, it would be somewhat suspicious if his rank was revealed through outside sources. He had already retrieved the scroll from Orochimaru’s body, so they had a complete set. Now, they simply had to make it to the Tower. So, that was what they did.

 

            After their arrival, Sasuke reported his completed mission and turned over Orochimaru’s body for disposal, minus, of course, his Clon Cards. Those would be a bit of a problem. Technically, since he had killed their last owner, they were now his Cards, but Orochimaru’s name was still written on them. And, as Orochimaru’s soul was still in pieces scattered all over the country in various locations, he wasn’t truly dead. Sasuke sighed. For now, he put binding seals on the Cards and put them in a secure location.

            In the preliminary exams, Sasuke easily defeated Yoroi with taijutsu, Sakura knocked out Ino, and Naruto took down Kiba. All three of them were slated to fight in the third round of the Chuunin Exams, which suited them just fine. Naruto told Sasuke that Gaara was a jinchuuriki, which Sasuke figured wouldn’t be too much of a problem. After all, he wasn’t the host of the Kyuubi, and probably not the Hachibi either. Sasuke was pretty confident he could handle anything with fewer tails. If worst came to worst, he could always use Lock to reinforce the seal holding the demon in place, and then just beat up the kid.

            Kakashi wisely decided to train Naruto for the upcoming Chuunin Exams, which suited the other two just fine. Sakura needed to concentrate on the rest of the Clon Cards, with a few exceptions, and Sasuke was training with Itachi. Itachi really was a genius, Sasuke thought fondly, watching as he avoided every single one of Arrow’s shots. He was so much better at everything… he picked up things so much faster! But Sasuke was still selfish. He didn’t want to share too much with his brother. He was afraid that if he let Itachi get stronger than him, he would leave, so he wouldn’t let his Cards fight him at more than quarter power, and he wouldn’t let him learn everything about them, either.

            “Sasuke,” Itachi interrupted his musings.

            Sasuke blinked, seeing that Arrow had finished. “Yes, niisan?”

            “Would you like to have lunch now?”

            Sasuke nodded, getting up. He thanked Arrow for his help, receiving a hug in response. Sasuke smiled and hugged Arrow tightly, the archer joining them for a simple lunch of onigiri and fruit.

 

            “Did you train Sasuke as well,” Itachi asked, making conversation.

            “Yes, Itachi-san,” Arrow said politely. “Of course, he took much longer than you to avoid my arrows, even when I was not aiming for his vital spots.”

            Sasuke nodded, blushing.

            “…How old was he when he attempted this training?” Itachi questioned further, taking a sip of his tea. He had to know.

            “Nine,” Arrow replied, reaching for another onigiri. “He’d activated the Sharingan by then, of course.”

            Itachi looked at Sasuke in horror.

            Sasuke blinked at his older brother, not understanding what was wrong. “Niisan?”

            Itachi was trying, quite unsuccessfully, to banish the mental image of nine year old Sasuke’s body riddled with arrows. He wasn’t completely wrong. Of course, Sasuke had never actually died. That wasn’t to say he hadn’t come close many, many times, but with Time’s ability to rewind time and heal injuries, it had never been a problem.

 

            “Is something wrong?” Sasuke asked, confused.

            “No,” Itachi finally replied. The other two occupants of the table looked at him, and then kept eating. Itachi managed to choke down his share of the onigiri. He couldn’t help but feel as though Sasuke was only slipping farther and farther away from him with each passing day.

 

            When the Mind Card attempted to take over Sasuke’s body, Void sucked it right out of him. Sasuke claimed the Mind Card without a fuss. When the Reshape Card attacked days later, the same strategy was effective. Sasuke could think of quite a few fun things to try with those two Cards, but he’d wait, to see if he’d actually be able to keep them. Meanwhile, Sakura was doing quite well, capturing the rest of the Cards, even the notorious Whore. It was rather pathetic, Sakura thought, even mustering up some sympathy for the poor young girl, condemned to spend eternity as a disembodied spirit. She felt bad using Wind to beat her up, but what else could she do?

After capturing the Whore, she, Sasuke, and Orochimaru were summoned to Naruto’s location to fight his alternate self, which, aside from having huge orange batwings, really didn’t look much different from Naruto. Orochimaru used Timeslip right off the bat, only for Naruto to tell him, point blank, that Timeslip was a Card that fell under his control, before disemboweling the man and finishing him off for good. Sasuke handed Naruto’s ass to him using his own set of Clow Cards, which was not exactly against the rules, and Sakura figured that between Fire, Metal, Lightning and Stone, Naruto didn’t do too well. Naruto ignored Bunny-chan’s whining, decided that he wasn’t going to make Sakura and Sasuke fight it out, as Sakura didn’t really _want_ Sasuke’s Cards anyway, awarded Orochimaru’s Cards to Sakura, and then promptly devoured and absorbed Bunny-chan’s powered-up form and his alter.

“I’m glad that’s over with,” He sighed.

Sakura looked slightly disturbed, but she shrugged. “You’ve got the powers of both now,” She guessed as she picked up the unconscious Bunny-chan. Naruto nodded.

Sasuke shrugged. “So, how’s your training been?”

“Well,” Naruto stretched. “Kakashi-sensei found me an even bigger pervert to train with, and he taught me this…”

End Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Orochimaru is 100% dead and gone, and is not ever coming back. Sakura’s new deck is 20 cards, Sasuke got 6


End file.
